The Show Goes On
by Skye Maxwell
Summary: Wandering the streets lost and alone, Rory finds a sobbing girl who wants nothing to do with him and his difficult accent. However, they both discover just how unlucky the other one is and how they can help each other find something that they're looking for.
1. Hobo

**Hello, Glee fandom. I never thought that the first Glee fic I posted would be a Rormony fic (yes, it's called Rormony, like a roaring dinosaur that wants money), but it is! Lol. Please enjoy.**

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><p><strong><span>The Show Goes On<span>**

Rory walked down yet another unfamiliar street, his hands in his pockets as he read the signs on the fronts of various businesses. He spotted the eighth McDonald's he'd run into within a half hour, and he added another tally to the little chart he'd imagined in his head. McDonald's was in the lead, closely followed by 7-11 with six sightings.

The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky, but he had no idea where he was or how to get back to Brittany's house. All he could do was keep on walking, hoping that luck would bring him a way back home.

He started quietly whistling U2's "Pride" as he rounded a corner, but his cheerful rendition ended abruptly when he saw a girl throw her hands in the air dramatically and yell to the sky.

"Is this what you wanted?" she yelled, making the people around her on the sidewalk scatter.

Rory looked up to see who or what she was looking at, but all he saw was a cloud that looked sort of like an elephant.

"Why do you hate me?" she cried. "I have nothing now!"

And with that, she threw her purse to the ground and sprawled herself out on a bench in front of a Starbucks. Completely disregarding how the people around her were giving her a multitude of strange looks, she lay on the bench as if she were in her own bed, and much to Rory's horror, started sobbing.

As he approached cautiously, she screamed to the heavens through a sob, "There's nothing else for me! You know that! You made me this way! Is this some awful joke?"

Still wondering who she was yelling at, he made his way to her side and asked, "Are you alright?"

Her eyes snapped onto his face, making his stomach flip at seeing such anguish suddenly turned on him.

"What did you just say?" she asked after a moment of hesitation, looking up at him in confusion but barely able to see him through her tear-blurred vision.

"Are you alright?" he repeated, his heavy accent making the words all blend together.

"What language are you even speaking?" she asked, exasperated. "You know what? Never mind. I don't care. I'm having a crisis right now, and I don't have time to decipher your Klingon nonsense!"

"So you're not alright," Rory concluded aloud. "I figured. I'm Irish, by the way. I'm not sure why so many of you Americans can't understand my English."

"Will you just leave me alone to wallow in my misery?" she requested, no longer looking at him as the tears continued to fall from her eyes.

"Well, you probably shouldn't just leave this on the street where anyone can pick it up," he told her, picking up her abnormally large silver purse and holding it out to her. "I'm sorry you're not alright, I really am. I would buy you a coffee or something, but I don't have any money."

She bolted upright, snatched the purse from him, and with wide eyes, asked, "Are you a hobo?"

"A what?"

"Never mind," she said with frustration, turning to sit properly and plopping the purse into her lap. "Please just… go home."

"I would, but I don't how to get there."

"So you _are_ a hobo?" she cried, clutching her purse more tightly.

"What? I'm a foreign exchange student," he told her, not knowing what she was talking about.

Seeing that she was still confused, he sat down beside her and explained, "I'm not from around here, so I don't know how to get back to my host family's house."

And as she sat next to him on the bench wiping her eyes, she had no idea that this foreign exchange student was about to give her lack of luck a run for its money.

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><p><strong>Just a heads up: chapters will be relatively short, because I think that's all that I can handle. The next chapter will pick up right where this leaves off.<br>So… Rormony might not be too realistic… but I'm going to make it be, bygummit!  
>Ten points for you if Rory's first line reminded you of Damian's Irish Rap. ;)<strong>

**-Skye Maxwell**


	2. Not a Leprechaun

"How did you get here in the first place?" she asked, her curiosity getting the best of her as her crying was reduced to sniffles.

Looking straight forward with his hands in his lap, he explained, "Well, I was watching the Cheerio practice after school because I have to wait for Brittany to drive me home every day. She's a nice girl, but she stopped liking me as much when she found out I wasn't a leprechaun. When practice was almost over, I left the gym to go use the restroom, and the last thing I saw before the blindfold was put on was a bunch of guys from the hockey team. They dragged me outside and threw me in what I think was a van. For the whole ride, two of them were holding me down, and when I tried to get away, one of them punched me square in the eye. I reckon that's why it's turned the color it has. I don't think he was trying to hit me in the eye, but rather I turned my head at just the wrong second. The next thing I knew, I was being tossed out of the van. I took the blindfold off and found myself at what they call a crack house. I really thought the crack people were going to kill me, but when I started talking, they let me go because they said I made their brains hurt or something. Since then, I've been wandering around looking for something familiar, but I've had no luck so far. The hockey guys took my wallet and phone, so I really don't know what to do."

She stared at him with her mouth open, horrified for multiple reasons. Even though she hadn't completely understood everything he'd said, the parts she did understand sounded awful. She leaned forward to get a better look at his left eye, and she covered her mouth when she saw that the skin all around his eye was dark red and swollen. She wondered how she had missed it before.

"Should I call the police? Or a doctor?" she asked, having no idea what to do. "Or… or maybe a makeup artist? I know a really good one who could cover that right up for you…"

"Ah, no thank you. It was just a harmless prank. I'm fine, really," he said casually.

"Harmless?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I don't take it personally. They're just the type of people who need someone to pick on to feel good about themselves, you know? Plus, I think I can pull off this red-eyed look, don't you think? You seem to be pulling it off quite nicely," he said with a smile.

"Excuse me?" she said, pausing her search through her purse for her phone.

"Well, because you were crying, your eyes are partially red, and that mixed with the white and then the blue of your irises reminds me of the colors of your country's flag."

Wiping at her eyes self-consciously, she said crossly, "You're very confusing. That was both charming and offensive."

"Was it? I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be either. I do love your country, even though it doesn't seem to love me back some of the time. What is your name?"

After marveling at how quickly he would change subjects, she said, "My name is Harmony. You probably recognize me; I'm the Gerber baby."

"No, I don't," he said bluntly, unknowingly bursting her bubble a bit. "Harmony is a lovely name, though. I think it suits you."

"Do you, now?" she said dryly, going back into her purse to continue her search for her rhinestone-covered cell phone. "And your name is?"

"Rory. Rory Flanagan. I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Harmony."

Suddenly, Harmony started crying again.

"I'm sorry!" Rory cried, his voice getting a little higher with panic. "I don't have to be pleased to meet you if you don't want me to!"

"No, no, it's not you," Harmony squeaked as she pulled her cell phone and a torn envelope out of the bottom of her purse.

Just seeing the envelope that held the wretched letter inside of it again made all of the emotions, namely rage and sorrow, come rushing back and pouring from her apparently flag-like eyes. She tossed the phone into Rory's lap and then turned her face away.

"Just… hurry up and call someone to come and get you, okay?" she managed to get out before erupting into another fit of sobs.

"I don't know anyone's number because I don't have many friends, and the few I do have, I just have their numbers in the speed dial, so the only number I remember is my mommy's in Ireland, but I don't think she'd be of much help right now," Rory rambled to Harmony in one long, difficult sentence.

"You're like a lost, Irish puppy!" Harmony exclaimed, looking at him once again. "What am I supposed to do with you? I don't even know what to do with myself!"

"I'm sorry," Rory apologized again, looking contemplative. "Do you need a hug?" he suddenly offered brightly, as if that would fix everything.

"What? I barely know you!" she said indignantly, not even sure how she could still speak while she was crying so hard.

"Do people in America only hug people they know?"

"Do people in Ireland go around hugging people they don't know?" she asked hysterically.

"Yes," he answered while nodding. "All the time."

"Are you even human?" Harmony asked, genuinely unsure of what was wrong with the far-too-nice-to-be-normal boy next to her.

"I'm not a leprechaun, if that's what you're thinking," Rory answered defensively. "I'm done being a leprechaun."

Harmony had nothing to say back to that assertion, so she just gave in with an exasperated sigh and hugged the strange Irish boy, not knowing what else to do when her world was falling apart.

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><p><strong>I exaggerate because Glee exaggerates. :D<br>If you have any questions or comments (or concerns?), leave me a review or PM me. Thanks!**

**-Skye**


	3. Live It

**Thank you all for the wonderful feedback! And Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it. :)**

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><p>Rory's eyes widened as she nearly squeezed him to death, but after recovering from a moment of shock, he hugged her back, a small smile on his face.<p>

She turned her head sideways so that she wouldn't be crying right into his ear, unknowingly shoving her crocheted beret into his face.

"Your hat is soft," he said after moving his head to get the beret out of his face. "And it's a nice color, too," he said a bit loudly so that she would hear him over herself.

"Thanks!" she replied with forced enthusiasm. "Cinderella-blue is my favorite color! It matches my eyes!"

He raised his eyebrows and then just patted her hair lightly in an attempt to calm her down. He didn't like it when people were unhappy.

When she finally let go of him, she swiftly turned away and set to searching for tissues in her purse so that he wouldn't see how screwed up her face was.

"Better?" he asked.

She picked the envelope out of her purse, threw it on the ground, and kept looking for her tissues.

"Not much," she said hoarsely.

"A little is better than nothing," he said happily. "Well, since you don't seem to be going anywhere soon, and since I have somewhere to go but no way to get there, and since I've done so much talking about myself, and you've done so much crying over something that must be rather horrible, I wouldn't mind it if you told me about this crisis that you're having, you know, when you can speak normally again."

Harmony found a package of tissues between her bottle of hairspray and her Mini BeDazzler. After ripping the package open, using up half of its contents, and taking a deep breath, Harmony said miserably, "I didn't get into NYADA."

She bit her lip after saying it, trying her hardest to somewhat contain herself.

Rory looked from her to the envelope on the sidewalk and then picked it up, slipping the letter out of it while Harmony tried not to pay attention.

"NYADA?" he asked, scanning the rejection letter. "That's the school that Rachel and Kurt are trying to get into."

"Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel? You know them?" Harmony asked with malice that would be obvious to just about anyone besides Rory.

"Yes, I'm in the glee club with them at McKinley High. They're both incredibly talented, and they're right nice people when they're not being all competitive and frightening. Are you friends with them?"

"No!" she snapped, not able to help herself. "I mean… I just met them once at a mixer for prospective NYADA students… Did _they_ get in?" she asked bitterly, crossing her arms.

"I don't rightly know. I'm supposing they got their letters after school today. If you don't mind me saying, you seem kind of young to be graduating from high school."

"I skipped a few grades in elementary school," she said softly, trying to let a little bit of her pride come inching back from the dark place that the NYADA rejection had sent it to. "I just kept belting songs from the musical "Cats" in the middle of class until they bumped me up to the next grade. That didn't work for third grade, though, because the teacher was deaf. I did get over it eventually, because third grade is when we started music classes, and that's where I had the chance to sing to my peers and outshine them on a bi-weekly basis. Of course, I had singing lessons and theater classes outside of school long before I even got to kindergarten. But hey, an audience is an audience. I'll take one whenever I can get one… which is why I should have gotten into freaking NYADA!" she exclaimed, her voice escalating again. "I've been acting since I was a fetus! I learned to sing before I learned to _breathe_!"

"Isn't that impossible?" Rory asked, putting the letter back in the envelope and setting it down on the bench beside him.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But it's not, not for me! I'm Harmony. Performing is what I do. It's who I am."

"Well, what about the other schools you applied to? Did none of them accept you either?"

Harmony looked down at her Cinderella-blue shoes and said, "I didn't apply to any other schools."

"Oh," Rory said awkwardly. "You must be pretty confident, then."

"Just confident?" Harmony said as a string of memories ran through her mind. "You mean conceited? Narcissistic? Self-absorbed? Overzealous? Big-headed? Delusional? Go ahead, just say it! It won't be the first time I've been called those things!"

"No, I meant just what I said," he said calmly. "You're just… confident. I think that's a good thing for a person to be. Overconfidence could turn out to be an issue, but I reckon it's better than having no self-confidence at all. And now, I just really want to hear you sing."

"What? No. I…" Harmony paused, once again thrown off by his sudden turning of the conversation. "I need to get you home. I live close. We can get my car, I can look up directions to McKinley, and-"

"Please?" he interrupted. "And if you could, I'd love it if you didn't sing one of those popular American radio songs. I still don't understand what a super bass is."

"No! I am not going to sing for you right now, Rory Flanagan," Harmony told him firmly as she tried not to look at him. "I can barely breathe, let alone sing!"

Rory replied, "I thought you learned to sing before you learned to breathe…"

"I am _dying_ inside, okay?" Harmony said, on the verge of throwing an Oscar-worthy fit. "I can't sing right now!"

"Sing a sad song. It'll be a really authentic performance," he said, smiling.

"Your positivity is gross," she stated, glancing at him to see if he was serious. "Why are you so simple?"

"Why are you so complicated?" he countered. "You said an audience was an audience, didn't you? Well, I'm right here, and the people on this street are here. If your life is performing, then live it."

Harmony just stared open-mouthed at Rory, having just experienced a weird pang in her heart at hearing his words. He just stared back with a soft little grin on his face, all innocence and naïveté.

"You said you're in the McKinley glee club, right?" she asked, taking a few last dabs at her eyes with a tissue.

"Yes, I am."

Harmony stood up purposefully.

"Sing backup," she ordered him as she shed her coat.

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><p><strong>I smell a song coming on. ;)<br>Tell me what you thought of the chapter!**

**-Skye **


	4. Speechless

**First of all, we're going to pretend that Harmony and New Directions never met at sectionals (this story would take place after sectionals). I couldn't think of a way to write this chapter non-awkwardly (with the lyrics), so I wrote it awkwardly! :D Lyrics are italicized. You really have to know the song to get the feel for the chapter, so go look up the song "Memory" from the musical "Cats" if you're not already familiar with it. It's gorgeous. :)**

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><p>Rory didn't even have time to celebrate before having to catch the coat that Harmony unknowingly tossed at his face and being commanded to sing backup for her.<p>

Normally when she would burst into a highly theatrical street performance, Harmony would announce herself and state a list of her credentials before singing her heart out, but she was in no mood for that. Instead, she simply stepped up onto the bench beside Rory, looked sorrowfully toward the sunset, and started to sing.

_"Memory, turn your face to the moonlight__  
><em>_Let your memory lead you__  
><em>_Open up, enter in__  
><em>_If you find there the meaning of what happiness is__  
><em>_Then a new life will begin_

People stopped in their tracks to listen to Harmony, and Rory didn't blame them. He completely forgot about singing backup, but Harmony was already too far into her performing world to care.

_Memory, all alone in the moonlight__  
><em>_I can smile at the old days__  
><em>_I was beautiful then__  
><em>_I remember the time I knew what happiness was__  
><em>_Let the memory live again_

Rory, mesmerized, raised his eyebrows in surprise when Harmony leapt off of the bench. She crossed the sidewalk swiftly and took hold of a lamppost, her back to him and the growing crowd of awed spectators.

_Burnt out ends of smoky days__  
><em>_The stale cold smell of morning__  
><em>_A streetlamp dies, another night is over__  
><em>_Another day is dawning_

She crouched beside the lamppost and held onto it as if for dear life, her inner turmoil indeed allowing for quite the authentic performance.

_Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise__  
><em>_I must think of a new life__  
><em>_And I mustn't give in__  
><em>_When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too__  
><em>_And a new day will begin_

One by one, Harmony sucked her audience straight into her world, and as she stood up and pointed up toward seemingly nothing, Rory saw her rays of sunlight breaking through a ceiling of leaves.

_Sunlight, through the trees in the summer__  
><em>_Endless masquerading__  
><em>_Like a flower as the dawn is breaking__  
><em>_The memory is fading_

Rory was already caught up in her performance, but when she turned back around to face everyone with tears streaming down her face, something in his heart broke.

Still, Harmony managed to belt the climax of the song while staring boldly into her audience.

_Touch me, it's so easy to leave me__  
><em>_All alone with the memory__  
><em>_Of my days in the sun__  
><em>_If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is__  
><em>_Look…_

Half of the spectators were so convinced by her that they actually looked behind themselves.

Rory could only look at Harmony, and when her eyes turned to him, his heart seized.

…_a new day has begun__."_

Her voice broke on her last word, and when she looked like she was about to collapse in tears, Rory jumped up to catch her in another hug. As she leaned against him, something in the back of her mind faintly registered the sound of applause, but she just buried her face in Rory's shirt and tried to catch her breath.

"Thank you, thank you all so much," Rory said behind him, giving the people in the crowd, some of them teary-eyed and sniffling, permission to stop clapping and disperse.

After Harmony had a moment to completely come crashing back down from the world she had just been in, she muttered, "That was the worst performance ever."

Rory shook his head, to which she responded, "No, it was! I turned my back to the audience, and I broke character because I couldn't stop my stupid self from crying, and I totally messed up the end, and I guess this means that I really didn't deserve to get into NYADA…"

He looked down at her sympathetically but didn't say a word.

"Rory? Say something," she implored.

"That's… kind of hard to do when you're speechless," Rory said apologetically.

Frowning, Harmony let go of him and looked up at his marred face.

Trying to collect his thoughts into words that made sense, Rory said, "I… understand now."

"Understand what?" Harmony asked, crossing her arms and shivering a bit as she realized it was getting colder.

"Why you're so confident, why you're so upset… you're a legend," he told her, his characteristic smile missing.

"A legend? What is that, hobo slang or something?" Harmony asked.

Rory shook his head. "It's Irish. It means… that you are absolutely amazing."

Harmony, for once, had nothing to say, so she just bit the inside of her bottom lip and let her eyes water accordingly.

"Please don't cry again," Rory requested urgently.

Wiping at her eyes and smiling weakly, Harmony said, "What? I thought you liked my eyes nice and flag-like because you love America."

Rory looked at her fondly and simply said, "Let's go."

Harmony took a deep breath and nodded. She put on her coat while Rory picked up her purse and her letter for her. He started walking purposefully off in one direction, but Harmony caught his hand, forcing him to halt.

Looking from her exasperated face to the purse in his free hand, he exclaimed, "I'm not stealing it! I swear!"

"My house is that way," she replied, turning him around.

"Oh," he said shortly as they started the walk to Harmony's house.

"Carry it for me?" she asked, looking into the distance at nothing in particular and fighting back unwanted tears.

Happy that she trusted him to do so, he slung the giant silver bag over his shoulder and said, "It would be an honor, Miss Harmony."

When she squeezed his hand, his smile returned, and they walked together, many unspoken thoughts swirling around in their heads.

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><p><strong>So, I originally had a completely different musical number planned for this chapter, but then I realized that it would be better placed at a different point later in the story.<br>I love "Memory" a lot since my mom has a jewelry box that plays it, and it's just a great, powerful song.  
>I learned "legend" from an Irish friend years ago. Yay Ireland. :3<br>**

**-Skye**


	5. Not a Clue

**As a reviewer pointed out, this story is now slightly AU since the airing of "Hold on to Sixteen." I loved that episode! But for the sake of this story, Harmony is still a senior who skipped grades, and New Directions and the Unitards never met. Now, for this chapter, get ready for some unexpected stuff that highly amuses me!**

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><p>After changing his shirt for the second time, Finn rushed frantically around the house in search of more tissues. Throwing open the door to the hall closet, he zeroed in on a new package of toilet paper. He grabbed it and started running back down the hallway, but he backtracked and grabbed a few towels from the closet as well, just in case.<p>

Just when Finn got back to the living room, there was a loud, rhythmic knock at the front door.

"What now?" Finn groaned.

He dumped his findings on Blaine's lap, earning little more than a nod of acknowledgement from the former Warbler. Finn gave Blaine an apologetic look before going to answer the door, but Blaine didn't notice it.

Since Finn had left the room to find tissues, Blaine had been forced to occupy the middle of the sofa and soak up the tears of not one, but two basket cases. His sweater vest was already soaked through on both shoulders, but he didn't have the heart to move from where he was.

Finn opened the front door, only to find something completely unexpected.

"Rory?" he asked, blinking as if he wasn't sure that what he was seeing was real.

"Hello, Finn Hudson," Rory said, smiling widely.

"Rory, who_ is_ that? What did you do to her? Is... is she dead?" Finn asked, panic starting to set in.

"Who's dead?" Kurt weakly asked Blaine, who just shrugged. They could only hear parts of the conversation from where they were situated in the living room, but they were definitely becoming a little suspicious.

"She's not dead," Rory assured Finn.

Finn eyed Rory uncertainly.

"Hold on," he said, and then he slammed the door in Rory's face.

"Uh, Rachel?" he called in that tone of voice that made it clear that he didn't know what to do and needed direction. "Rachel! I know you're really upset right now, but… Rory is at the door holding an unconscious girl, and he's kind of freaking me out."

"I can hear you through this door, Finn Hudson."

Rachel appeared at Finn's side in record time, wiping her eyes and then laying a hand on his arm to show that she would handle the situation.

Throwing the door back open, she quickly surveyed what was in front of her and came to the only logical conclusion for why Rory would be carrying an unconscious girl.

Placing her hands on her hips, she said in a scolding tone, "Rory Flanagan, I did not think that you were the type to use date rape drugs on a poor, innocent…" Rachel stopped in shock as she got a better look at the girl's face. "Harmony?" she squeaked.

"Hello, Rachel," Rory said pleasantly, oblivious as to what he was being accused of. "She told me that you two had met before."

Rachel's jaw dropped, and Finn remained silent, having no idea what was going on.

Rachel turned her head sharply and did a brief aside. "Cruel fate, what new torture hath thou brought me? Why dost thou delightest in my agony?"

"You never told me that you spoke Irish, Rachel," Finn interrupted, sounding a little betrayed.

Rachel sighed and rubbed her temples. Then, in a tone of voice that indicated that she needed someone to share the drama with, she yelled, "Kurt!"

Kurt responded dutifully, sniffling and dabbing at his face with a purple towel as Blaine followed him to the front door.

"Kurt. Kurt, look," Rachel said, stepping aside and pointing. "It's-"

"Harmony?" Kurt said with disdain. His gaze moved to the boy holding her. "Rory? What…?"

"Hello, Kurt. Hello, Blaine," Rory said, nodding to each of them.

"Oh my gosh. Harmony?" Blaine said in disbelief, moving from behind Kurt to look at her.

"Blaine?" Kurt said, wanting an explanation.

"You know Harmony?" Rachel asked, her arms crossed.

"Am I the only one who doesn't know this girl?" Finn asked, tired of being out of the loop.

Rachel started to explain, "Finn, this is Harmony…"

"…the acting fetus who thinks she can do anything better than us," Kurt finished sourly.

"Wait, this is _that _girl?" Finn asked, vaguely remembering Rachel telling him about an evil, two-faced Gerber has-been who had wrongly assumed that she could hold a note longer than Rachel. "This is the girl who made you guys cry?"

Not listening to Finn, Blaine said in wonder, "I can't believe this..."

"Well, Finn Hudson," Rory finally said, "Now that you know that this is Harmony, may we come in? It's kind of cold out here, and even though she's a light little thing, I'd kind of like to put her down."

Finn, Rachel, and Kurt all stared at Rory blankly, not knowing what to think or what to say.

Breaking the silence, Blaine waved him in oddly enthusiastically and said, "Bring her in, Rory. The living room is this way. Just put her on the couch."

"Thank you kindly, Blaine," Rory said, brushing past three very dumbfounded people.

As soon as Blaine and Rory were out of earshot, Finn asked, "So… what just happened?"

Kurt replied confidently, "I have no earthly idea."

Rachel nodded emphatically and added, "Not a clue."

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><p><strong>Ahaha. I have fun. :3<br>So, I've started picking out songs for future chapters (spoiler?), and the story is taking turns that I never would have expected at the beginning. I'm kind of worried about trying to format mash-ups sung by more than one person (spoiler?), but I'll figure something out.  
>Review and tell me what you think is happening, you smart cookies! <strong>

**-Skye **


	6. Spill the Beans

**Thank you for all of your guesses! This chapter offers little to no help in answering your burning questions. Lol. Enjoy!**

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><p>Finn, Rachel, and Kurt walked into the living room just in time to see Rory setting Harmony gently onto the sofa that they had occupied for the last few hours.<p>

Kurt almost tripped over his own feet, and Rachel gasped and almost choked on the sudden intake of air.

Rachel elbowed Kurt in the ribs and whispered urgently, "Kurt! The way he's looking…"

"I know," Kurt said with a grave nod.

Breathlessly, Rachel said, "Kurt, we have to… what if… we can't let him… we have to…"

"Let's not jump too far into our conclusions just yet, Rachel," Kurt advised, crossing his arms to block his ribs from further abuse.

"But you know how I like doing that!" Rachel whined, pulling on his arm.

Kurt just shook his head and shrugged her off as he watched Rory.

Finn bent to examine Harmony's face, and then he waved a hand in front of it. When she didn't respond, he poked her in the face a few times, but there was still nothing.

"Dude, are you sure she's not dead?" he asked.

"I'm positive. She's just sleeping," Rory answered.

"Heavy sleeper," Kurt remarked, arms still crossed.

Rory was about to sit down next to Harmony, but Rachel exclaimed, "Oh no you don't, mister! You're coming with me to get some Tylenol and some ice for that eye. Was it her? Did she punch you, Rory? We all take bullying very seriously," she said, staring him down to convey her seriousness.

"What? No, it wasn't her. It was… well, it's a long story," he replied.

"Well, you can explain everything to all of us after I fix you up," she said insistently. "Believe me; I know how much a black eye can hurt. I got one in my second grade dance class when the kick line went horribly wrong. Of course, after she nailed me in the eye, I made sure I wasn't the only one leaving that studio with a black eye…"

"What was that you said about bullying?" Rory asked with concern as she dragged him toward the kitchen.

"I'm gonna go get her a blanket. Do you wanna borrow a shirt, man?" Finn said to Blaine.

"Oh, yeah, that would be great," Blaine said, looking down at the wet spots on his sweater vest.

"We'll be right back," Finn told Kurt, who had taken a seat in an armchair across from Harmony.

"Kurt? You gonna be okay?" Blaine asked when Kurt didn't respond and continued to stare at the girl on the sofa.

"Yes, the two of us will be fine," Kurt said, putting his folded hands on his knee.

"Uh, okay," Finn said uncertainly.

When Finn and Blaine left the room, Kurt sank down into the armchair, torn between two great desires: going back into the deep depression that he had been drowning in prior to Rory's arrival, and taking one of Finn's mom's throw pillows and smacking Harmony with it until she did wake up.

"So we meet again, Gerber demon," he said to the sleeping Harmony. "Do you need my help waking up, Snow White? Because that awful 1980s throw pillow over there has your name all over it. I love your beret; it's a wonder that you can fit your horns under it. I actually love your whole outfit. Did your mommy pick it out for you?"

"Always so swayed by fashion," a disapproving voice said from behind Kurt.

"How much of that did you hear?" Kurt asked with raised eyebrows.

Rachel pulled Rory into the room and sat him next to her on the loveseat.

"You're usually pretty good at multiple insults, Kurt, but you can't throw all those compliments in there, no matter how… well-coordinated her outfit is," she admitted, as much as it pained her.

"But it really is well-coordinated, isn't it?" he said, momentarily excited that Rachel agreed.

"It really is!" Rachel replied with equal enthusiasm, but then she placed a hand over her mouth. "It would look better on me," she added quietly, and the two of them silently agreed to pretend that that just hadn't happened.

She turned her attention to the icepack she had in her lap. She wrapped it in a cloth and then cautiously applied it to the darkened part under Rory's eye.

Rory flinched in response, but Rachel ignored it, saying, "Now, I'm going to hold this here for about fifteen minutes, and then-"

"Thank you, Rachel, but you really don't have to-"

"…and _then,_" Rachel interrupted back pointedly, "I'll do it again forty-five minutes after that. This needs to be done for fifteen minutes every hour that you're awake for the next day, and a few times a day after that to keep the swelling down."

Rory's good eye widened at hearing her incredibly intimidating passive-aggressive tone.

"Yes, ma'am," he felt compelled to say, and then he went quiet.

Rachel smiled at his obedience, and Kurt rolled his eyes wearily.

Blaine and Finn returned, Blaine sporting a white McKinley gym shirt and Finn carrying a red and black blanket. The two of them stretched the blanket out and tossed it over Harmony, who still did not respond.

Blaine took a seat on the arm of Kurt's chair, and Finn sat in the remaining armchair. There was a moment of awkward silence, and then all eyes turned on Rory.

He didn't notice until Rachel deliberately cleared her throat. He looked up and was surprised to see everyone looking at him, but he didn't get the hint.

Kurt broke the silence by saying, "Spill the beans, kid."

Rory frowned. "Beans? I'm sorry, I don't have any beans, and even if I did, I wouldn't want to spill them on Finn Hudson's nice carpet, unless they were dry beans and I could just pick them up without making a mess, but I'm not really sure why you would want-"

"It's an expression, Rory," Blaine explained, letting a grin slip. "We just want you to explain what's going on."

"Oh. I can do that," Rory said with relief. "As long as it doesn't require any beans…"

"It doesn't," Rachel assured him. "Now go on. Just start at the beginning."

"Well," he started, "I was watching the Cheerio practice after school like I do every day since I wait for Brittany to drive me home…"

* * *

><p><strong>Ten points for you if the Snow White comment reminded you of Lindsay starring in A Snow White Christmas.<br>In my ongoing quest to fail college as hard as possible, I neglected studying and kind of went on a planning spree for this story for the last few days, arranging songs and jotting down scene ideas. I have a basic idea of where the plot is going now, and I'm pretty excited about it. **

**-Skye**


	7. Not Even Harmony

**Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing! Time for some answers for you all:**

* * *

><p>"…and that's when I found out that it was called a crack house."<p>

"That's completely awful," Blaine said in disgust. "I cannot believe that they would go that far. How cruel would a person have to be to send someone to a crack house? You could have been killed!"

He crossed his arms and looked away, trying to contain his anger.

Kurt and Finn glanced at each other and then looked knowingly at Rachel, who was staring rather intently at her own feet.

"They did threaten to kill me, but luckily, they let me go after I started talking because my accent confused them and made their brains hurt," Rory told the group. "After that, I just started wandering around since I had no idea where I was."

"Why didn't you call one of us for help?" Rachel asked. "I programmed your speed dial and everything… Did you forget how to use it again?"

"No, I remember that I have to hold the one button to call Rachel, two to call Finn Hudson, three to call Mommy-"

"Then why didn't you call? We would have come and gotten you in a heartbeat, Rory," Rachel said, her sympathy starting to overwhelm her.

"That means a lot to me, it really does," he said gratefully. "But I couldn't call because the hockey guys took my phone, and my wallet as well."

"We're going to make sure you get your things back," Kurt assured Rory.

"You know what? We're going to do a whole lot more than that," Finn said, fed up. "I'm tired of those guys coming down on you. They're going to regret ever messing with you."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Blaine said, ready to use his fight club skills right then and there. "We're not gonna let them push you around anymore, Rory! We're not going to let them push anyone around!"

"We're gonna beat their faces in!" Finn exclaimed, getting into the spirit.

"And then we're gonna shave those awful mullets off of their heads!" Blaine added, standing up. "I mean, seriously, what decade do they think they're living in?"

"Guys, I really appreciate it, but you don't need to hurt them on account of me," Rory said, leaving Blaine to sit back down, dejected. "They don't mean anything by it. They just have nothing better to do."

Rachel removed the ice pack from under his eye and set it on the coffee table next to the forgotten towels and rolls of toilet paper.

"You're too nice for your own good, Rory Flanagan," she said sadly, hooking her arm around his and leaning her head against it.

Patting Blaine's arm to calm him down, Kurt said, "Well, we're definitely not going to sit back and do nothing about this. We really are serious about this type of bullying. We've all been there, so you're not alone. We'll figure out exactly what our plan of action is later, but for now, Rory, just go on with your story."

"Thank you, Kurt," Rory said, grateful for the support. "So, like I said, I started walking around, kind of hoping that I would happen upon an answer of some sort. After a while, I found this girl in front of a Starbucks who was crying really hard and yelling at someone that I couldn't see. Honestly, I thought she was kind of crazy at first, but that's no reason to completely dismiss a person, you know? So, I went over to her and started talking to her. I figured that someone that upset must be having worse luck than me and could use someone to talk to."

"Crying? Harmony was crying?" Rachel asked suspiciously, looking to Kurt.

"Yes, she was crying because she didn't get into NYADA," Rory said. "It's the only place she wanted to go, and she was sure she would get in. That's why she didn't apply anywhere else. I thought she looked too young to be a senior, but she skipped a few grades. She's really just incredible."

Rachel let go of Rory and sat up straight. "Wait, did you just say that Harmony _didn't _get into NYADA?"

"Yes, she's pretty devastated about it, which is why I'm glad that she's just sleeping now. I was afraid that she was going to literally drown in her tears."

"That… that doesn't make sense that she didn't get in," Rachel said, shaking her head. "I mean, with her credentials…"

"…and her _talent," _Kurt added, not even trying to pretend that her talent hadn't sent him, Rachel, and their insecurities sobbing into Rachel's car that rainy night months ago.

Blaine nodded thoughtfully and looked disconcerted, but he didn't say anything.

Rachel sent an exasperated sigh in Kurt's direction, who raised his hands in an I-don't-know gesture.

Neither knew how to feel about the news.

They wanted to take comfort in the fact that not even _Harmony _made it into NYADA.

They also wanted to rub the huge failure into the face of the girl who rubbed her talent in their faces.

Still, there was a little bit of something in both of them that wanted to sympathize with the girl whose dreams had been crushed even more than their own.

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><p><strong>Ten points for you if Kurt saying "you're not alone" to Rory reminded you of Chris Colfer holding the "You are not alone" sign at Trevor Live. :)<br>Thanks for waiting for this update as I finished up exams and slowly recovered. Lol. I will update again within a day or two.**

**-Skye **


	8. Optional

**Thank you to JoJo127 and Mary in the Stars for reviewing the last chapter. :)**

* * *

><p>Rory continued, "When she mentioned NYADA, I told her that Rachel and Kurt wanted to go there, and then she said that she met the two of you once. After a while of talking, I really wanted to see what made her so confident about her talent, so I asked her to sing a song. She didn't want to sing at first, but I convinced her to, and she started singing this lovely song called Memory."<p>

"I love that song!" Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine all said at the same time, making them all smile a little at the coincidence.

"I've never heard of it," Finn said from his armchair, instantly making the three smiles disappear.

"You're kidding, right?" Blaine asked.

"He's not kidding," Kurt said sadly.

"Harmony told me that the song is from a musical called Cats," Rory said, "but I'd never heard of it before. Honestly, I don't know how you could make a whole musical about cats. I mean, the only cat I've ever been around is Lord Tubbington, but from what I've seen, all he does is eat, nap, and try to kill me in my sleep by sitting on my chest. He's quite a large kitty."

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" Rachel exclaimed as Kurt and Blaine shook their heads in shared disapproval. She pointed at Finn and Rory. "After school, every day, right here in this very living room, I will personally make sure that the two of you see every musical ever made at least twice."

"…and three times for the classics," Kurt added.

"Good idea," Blaine said.

"I'm going to put you two through a musical intervention—Rachel Berry-style," she concluded.

"Oh no," Finn said quietly with wide eyes, knowing more than Rory the danger of anything being done Rachel Berry-style.

After a moment, Rachel mustered the will to ask Rory, "So… how was it?"

"How was what?" Rory asked, still wondering what exactly an intervention was and why he needed it.

"Her performance," Rachel clarified, not looking at him or Harmony. "How was her performance?"

"Oh, that," Rory said, suddenly enthusiastic. "It was completely amazing. People walking on the sidewalk just stopped what they were doing to listen to her. It ended up being a good-sized crowd, and they were all hanging on every lyric she sang… including myself. I was absolutely blown away. Near the end, she was still singing but was crying again, and it just broke my heart, you know? When she was done, I thought she was going to collapse, so I went and hugged her again and kept her from falling while everyone around broke into a huge applause."

"You hugged her _again_? You never said that you hugged in the first place," Rachel mentioned, trying not to be jealous that Harmony could break into an impromptu street performance without getting slushies or rotten tomatoes tossed at her face…

"Well, yeah, I like hugs," Rory said with a smile. "Eventually we went to her house…"

More than one set of eyebrows in the room shot up.

"…and she printed out directions to McKinley because I didn't remember Brittany's address. I didn't have an address in Ireland. Everyone just knew our place as 'The Flanagan Farm' or 'that farm over there with the three-legged dog hobbling around in the yard.' Harmony drove me to McKinley, but by the time we got there, she was so tired that she was about to pass out at the wheel. I offered to drive the rest of the way to Brittany's house, which is about fifteen minutes from the school, and Harmony was tired enough that she said okay."

"Rory, aren't you too young for a driver's license? Or even a permit?" Blaine asked.

"Driver's license?" Rory asked, scratching his head. "Those are optional in America, right?"

"Oh my gosh," Rachel gasped. She whacked him in the arm, exclaiming, "Rory Flanagan! Licenses are not optional! What you did is illegal, and… and dangerous!"

"So… they're not optional?" Rory deduced.

"No! I mean… yes! They're just not optional, okay?" she cried, whacking him again for making her confuse herself. "What made you think that you could drive Harmony's car without a license? Have you ever even driven a car before?"

"My elderly neighbor let me have a go in his tractor once when I was thirteen. He's one of the most high-tech fellows in our county. He never let me drive it again, though, probably because I crashed it into his fence. I had to milk his cows for a year after that to pay for the repairs."

Rachel smacked him a third time, too flabbergasted to chastise him further.

"Please stop hitting me," he requested, rubbing his arm. "I've watched Brittany drive nearly every day, and if she can do it, I'm rightly sure that anyone can if they put their mind to it. We got here in well enough condition, didn't we?"

"Well, as far as we know, she still might be dead," Finn answered helpfully.

"Okay, we'll add Rory's illegal endeavors to the list of things to deal with later," Kurt said wearily. "For now, can we just stop interrupting so that he can finish this neverending story of his?"

"Fine," Rachel said, crossing her arms and settling back into the sofa.

"Proceed, Mr. Flanagan," Kurt said with a nod.

Rory took a deep breath and then rambled his way to a conclusion.

"She said okay to me driving, so we switched seats, and as soon as she buckled herself in, she was out cold. That's when I remembered that I don't exactly remember just how to get to Brittany's house from the school. She takes a different way home every day. She says it's because she doesn't want to leave a trail for the people who are trying to find her, and she also says that if she told me any more than that, she'd have to kill me. I did remember how to get to Finn Hudson's house, though, and since it's so close to the school and I knew Finn Hudson would help, I brought us here. And there you have it."

* * *

><p>…<strong>and there you have it.<br>I think it's about time Harmony wakes up, don't you? ;)  
>Please review, if you could. <strong>

**-Skye**


	9. Cute Nicknames

**I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you keep the words of Rory/Itchy the Holiday Elf in your hearts throughout the year. ;D Happy Holidays to all of you.**

* * *

><p>She eased her eyes open, vaguely noting the warmth of a blanket surrounding her.<p>

The first thing she saw was an unfamiliar boy sitting across from her on a loveseat, staring up at the ceiling. His arm was wrapped around a sleeping girl, whose head was resting on his chest. Her face, which was separated from the boy's shirt by a folded-up purple towel, was buried so that Harmony couldn't see it. Harmony guessed that the girl was Brittany and that Rory had gotten them safely to Brittany's house.

Harmony looked toward her feet, and she saw Rory sitting on the ground, sleeping with his head resting on the far arm of the sofa. Even in his sleep, he looked to be concerned about something. Rubbing her eyes, she silently rebuked herself for letting the boy, who was little more than a stranger to her and still under slight suspicion of being a hobo, drive her vehicle.

Her eyes then traveled to the last person in the room, a sight in a gym shirt and rolled-up jeans that made her heart stop for a second. She just stared at him for a moment, blinking the sleep out of her eyes and wondering if they were fooling her. She took in the meticulously gelled hairstyle, the way his foot was tapping to imaginary music, the slight frown on his face as he dissected an article in a fashion magazine…

Feeling someone watching him, Blaine lowered the magazine and looked around, immediately dropping the magazine when he saw Harmony looking at him.

A brilliant smile came over his face, and he simply said, "Harmony."

At hearing this, Finn tore his gaze from the ceiling and directed his attention to how the now-awake Harmony was gawking at Blaine.

"Blaine," Harmony said quietly. "I was going to ask if that was really you, but I'd know that voice anywhere."

He looked down at the ground and chuckled a little to himself, and then he looked back to her.

In a blur of motion, Harmony threw the blanket off and practically leapt off the sofa, meeting Blaine in the middle of the room for a tight, clashing hug.

Rory was awoken by getting hit by the blanket that Harmony unknowingly tossed at his face and the sound of Blaine and Harmony's light laughter. He pulled the blanket off of himself and marveled at the two before him, not knowing how they knew each other but smiling anyway at how happy they seemed.

Leaning his cheek on the side of her head, Blaine said, "This is just like eighth grade graduation all over again."

"It is, isn't it?" she replied, the memory replaying itself in her head.

After a final squeeze, they pulled apart, both smiling in disbelief.

"You look great, Blaine," Harmony said. "You really outgrew that ugly phase, huh?"

Finn and Rory exchanged surprised and worried looks.

Blaine gave a big laugh and said, "And I see you didn't outgrow your blunt phase."

"I never did, and I never will, Blanderson," Harmony said proudly, using her old nickname for Blaine.

Amused, Blaine followed suit, saying, "I wouldn't want it any other way, Harm Alarm."

"Cute nicknames!" a syrupy sweet voice said from the doorway.

Blaine, Harmony, Rory, and Finn looked to see Kurt standing there, sporting a pair of oven mitts and a deadly expression.

Confused as ever, Harmony said, "Kurt Hummel? What are you doing here?"

Removing the oven mitts while keeping his eyes on Harmony, he said too-sweetly, "I live here, dear."

Blaine knew that tone, and he tried to look away and pretend that he wasn't there, but he couldn't get off the hook that easily.

"So, _Blanderson, _how exactly do we know Miss Harm Alarm here?"

"Kurt!" Blaine said nervously, as if he had done something wrong. "Uh… this is Harmony! Well, yeah, you already know that… um…"

"We went to middle school together," Harmony explained, seeing how Blaine was struggling.

"Yeah," Blaine agreed, looking back to her. "We kind of hated each other," he stated, smiling once again, to the confusion of his observers.

"We really did, didn't we?" Harmony said, momentarily forgetting about Kurt as she laughed with Blaine.

Their laughter woke Rachel, who paled a little at seeing Harmony standing before her.

"Good morning," Finn said to her.

"Rachel Berry?" Harmony asked at seeing Rachel's face, now completely thrown off.

Rachel sat up and swiftly adjusted herself, wiping leftover tears off of her face and running her fingers through her hair so that it looked decent.

"Hello, Harmony," she said, sounding a bit more groggy than she had hoped.

Harmony flashed a smile and then turned on her heel toward Rory. Seeing that he was awake, the smile vanished, and she angrily whispered, "Where are we and _why_ did you take me here?"

Before Rory could sputter out an answer, Kurt spoke up, forcing Harmony to turn back around.

"Let me explain," he said. "You're currently in the Hummel-Hudson household. I'm the Hummel, and my brother Finn there is the Hudson."

Finn raised a hand awkwardly in greeting.

Kurt continued, "Finn Hudson is also the boyfriend of Rachel Berry, and Blaine Anderson there is the boyfriend of _me._"

Harmony raised her eyebrows and glanced at Blaine, who seemed to be very interested in the room's wallpaper.

"Rory is our friend, who brought you here with the best of intentions, so you _ought_ to be grateful," Kurt concluded.

Rory hugged the wad of blanket in his possession, looking at Harmony with wide eyes and waiting for her reply.

Not backing down, Harmony returned Kurt's gaze and said tightly, "I'm going to try to be."

Rory felt himself shiver involuntarily.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay for scary Harmony! Tell me what you thought. :)<strong>

**-Skye**


	10. Leaving So Soon

"Blaine, may I speak to you alone in the kitchen?" Kurt said after finally breaking the stare-off with Harmony.

"Uh, sure, Kurt," Blaine said uncertainly.

Following Kurt to the kitchen, Blaine opted to give Harmony a small nod rather than saying anything, in fear of worsening Kurt's mood.

"It's a bit warm in here, isn't it?" Harmony asked no one in particular, shedding her coat and fanning herself.

Rachel emitted a small gasp and bit one of her knuckles.

"What's wrong?" Finn whispered.

"Look at her dress! It makes the outfit all that much better! The coordination… I can't even…" she whispered back in distress.

Finn didn't reply, having no idea what that was supposed to mean.

"Is it okay if I leave this here?" Harmony asked Finn politely as she folded her coat and placed it on the sofa.

"Uh, sure. No problem," Finn said, thrown off by Harmony addressing him.

"Thank you. You have a lovely home," she told him. Turning to the blanket-clutching boy on the floor, she said, "Could I speak to you alone for a moment, Rory?"

"Sure, of course," he said, untangling himself from the blanket and scrambling to his feet.

"If you would excuse us," Harmony said with a small smile, looking straight at Finn and avoiding eye contact with Rachel.

She exited the living room with Rory in tow, finding a hallway and taking Rory down it.

"She seems nice enough," Finn commented to Rachel.

"Seems is the operative word," Rachel replied with a roll of her eyes, not having enough energy to explain to Finn why he was completely wrong or even to whack him for saying such a thing about the Gerber demon.

* * *

><p>In the middle of the hallway, Harmony stopped abruptly and turned on Rory, surprising him a bit.<p>

"Why are we here?" she asked in a no-nonsense tone.

Rory explained, "Brittany takes a different way home every day because she believes that there are people following her, so I don't quite remember how exactly to get to her house, but I didn't remember that I didn't remember until you were asleep. Finn Hudson is a good friend, and his house is a lot closer to the school, so I brought us here instead, knowing that he would help."

"She thinks people are following her?" Harmony asked skeptically, finding the whole story ridiculous.

"She really does," he assured Harmony. "Brittany has quite a lot of interesting theories. She's a fascinating girl. You… you'd have to meet her to understand. I think she would like you."

"I'm assuming neither of them got into NYADA," Harmony said, moving straight on to the next subject.

"No, they didn't. How did you know?" Rory asked.

"Well, it appears that Rachel cried herself to sleep on her boyfriend, which I'm hoping wouldn't be how she would celebrate getting into NYADA, and Kurt didn't seem to be in too celebratory of a mood, either," she explained logically. "Did they apply to other schools?"

"Yes, they both applied to all the same schools. There were a number of other schools in New York and a couple here in Ohio, but NYADA was their first choice."

"Of course it was," Harmony said, looking down. Then another question dawned on her. "Do you have a driver's license?"

"No," Rory answered. Seeing her eyes widen and cheeks flush, he added nervously, "But I just found out tonight from Rachel and them that those aren't optional! I swear."

Taking a deep breath, she asked tentatively, "Is my car in one piece?"

"Yes, your car is fine," he said. "It's parked in the driveway. I did have to swerve once when this cat came out of absolutely nowhere and jumped in front of the car, but luckily I dodged it without harming anyone."

Trying to remain patient, Harmony changed the subject again. "So Blaine goes to McKinley with you?"

"Yes, he does. He went to a school called Dalton Academy at the beginning of the year, but he transferred to be with Kurt."

"Is he in the glee club?"

"Yes. He's very talented," Rory told her.

"Good," Harmony replied. After a pause, she said, "I'm assuming you can get to Brittany's house from here?"

"Yes, I can use Finn Hudson's phone, and she'll pick me up. But what about you?" he asked.

"I'm fine now. I can find my way back on my own."

"Oh. But…"

"Rory! You need to put your icepack back on!" Rachel called.

"You better go. She seems pretty demanding," Harmony said, brushing past him and quickly making her way back down the hall.

"Harmony, stay a while longer," he requested as he followed her back to the living room. "You must be hungry. Kurt likes to cook when he's upset, and it looks like your American Thanksgiving in the kitchen there."

Finn was still on the couch when they returned, and Rachel was entering the room from the other door, holding the icepack.

Harmony watched Rory for a moment, but then she shook her head. "I'm sure the last thing Kurt wants right now is for me to stay for dinner. Plus, I'm on a completely gluten-free diet, which is very difficult to cater to. I think I'll just grab my things and be on my way," she told him, throwing her coat back on.

After buttoning her coat, she turned to Rachel and said, "Rachel, I'm really sorry that you didn't get into NYADA, but I'm sure you'll get into one of the other schools you applied to—one of the New York schools. You'll do great there. Best of luck." She then looked at Finn. "Thank you for letting me into your home. Sorry to impose."

Rory protested, "But Harmony, you're welcome-"

"I don't belong here," she said firmly, shutting him down. She scanned the room impatiently and asked, "Where's my purse?"

Before she could accuse him of being a hobo again, Rory went to the side of the sofa and picked the purse up off the floor.

Resigned, he held it out to her and said, "Harmony, thank you-"

Harmony shook her head again, silencing him.

"No problem," she said, taking the purse. "Goodbye, Rory Flanagan."

Harmony left the room swiftly, leaving Finn and Rachel staring open-mouthed after her.

"What just happened?" Rachel asked, looking at Rory.

"I'm not quite sure," he said, frowning.

"Well… come here, let me put this icepack on you," Rachel said quietly.

Rory walked over to her and took the icepack from her hand.

"I think I can hold it myself, thank you," he said.

Rachel just gave a small nod and let him, watching with concern as he plopped onto the sofa Harmony had occupied.

Seeing how sad he was, Rachel knew she had to do something, and fast. That's when she spotted something shiny on the coffee table, half-buried underneath a towel.

* * *

><p>"Leaving so soon?" Kurt asked, appearing as Harmony placed her hand on the doorknob.<p>

Looking him up and down, she took her hand away from the door and turned to face him.

"You," she said with all the spite she could muster. "No, my mommy did not pick out this outfit. The first time she tried to put an awful paisley onesie on me, I swatted her finely manicured hand away, and I've been dressing myself ever since. Yes, I can fit my horns under this beret, but it's a shame that your old-school-Billy-Ray-Cyrus-without-the-party-in-the-back hairstyle doesn't fit in that wannabe-Sherlock beast on top of your head. No, this Snow White does not need your help waking up, because that would require you to kiss her, and she would rather hack up all the acid in her pretty little stomach before letting your barely-visible-and-definitely-not-kissable lips touch hers."

Kurt was too shocked to recoil. He just stood there, wondering how on earth she could have heard his string of insults (and compliments) while she was sleeping.

All he could manage to say was, "But you were asleep…"

"I don't care if I am on the other side of the world, if I'm in a coma, or if I just unearthed a screaming baby mandrake—if someone is trying to upstage me, I will _hear _them."

Kurt's jaw dropped without his permission, which Harmony took as her cue to leave.

"Thanks so much for the hospitality," she said coldly as she disappeared through the front door and shut it behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>5 points for you if you got the mullet reference. And 5 points if you got the Harry Potter reference. If you didn't get either, feel free to ask. Lol. Oh, and 2 points if you had to do the simulator for Driver's Ed and had to swerve to avoid hitting a cat.<strong>

**-Skye**


	11. The Least You Could Do

**Look up "Hamburg Song" by Keane. It's one of my absolute favorite songs. It's from the album "Under the Iron Sea," one of my absolute favorite albums. (Keane, if you don't recognize the name, does "Somewhere Only We Know.")**

* * *

><p>"Kurt? You're pale… well, paler than usual. You okay?" Blaine asked.<p>

Kurt was still standing by the door, trying to figure out what to do with his wounded pride.

When Kurt didn't respond, Blaine asked, "Did Harmony just leave?"

"Yes," Kurt answered, not looking at Blaine. "She needed to get home. I think… I'm going to go bake a cake."

"A cake?" Blaine asked as Kurt went back toward the kitchen. "But Kurt, you already baked two pies!"

Blaine ran a hand through his hair, wondering why Harmony hadn't at least said goodbye. He sighed and went after Kurt, wishing that he could make the compulsive cooking stop.

* * *

><p>"Rory, could you do me a favor?" Rachel asked suddenly, her urgency sparking Finn's curiosity.<p>

"What did you have in mind?" Rory asked sullenly.

"Sing for me."

Both Finn and Rory looked at her like she was crazy, but she was determined.

"Rory, please sing just one song for me. It's the least you can do. We've all taken care of you, and we're all feeling down. It would really make everyone feel better. It would make _me _feel better. Plus, I sang the whole time I had a black eye, and I think that's why it healed so fast. The doctors thought it was a miracle, but I think it was magic—the magic of music. And your voice, Rory, it's always been magical. Once someone hears it…" She stole a quick glance at the door, as if she could see what was on the other side of it. "…they can't forget it."

"Well, I don't think I can argue with that logic, especially since I didn't understand most of it," Rory said, "but I guess I can sing one song for you, Rachel."

Rachel's face lit up. Her plan was going to work.

"Any requests?" he asked, adjusting his icepack.

"Sing that song you've been rehearsing for glee club," she told him. Glancing toward the door again and somehow knowing that there was no more time to dawdle, she waved her arms as if conducting and said, "One, two, three, _go_."

Rory knew better than to not go when Rachel Berry said to go, so he leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and began to sing.

* * *

><p>Harmony searched every inch of her purse twice, as well as her coat pockets, but when she didn't find what she was looking for, a feeling of dread arose in her stomach.<p>

She would have to go back.

It wasn't as if she had that much of a choice. She couldn't get home without her car keys. But after such a dramatic exit, it would be so incredibly _tacky _to knock on that door and ask for her keys.

_It's that hobo's fault for stealing my car when I had no control over myself and then not giving my keys back, _she thought resentfully as she slowly made her way back up the driveway.

She halfway hoped that he would be the one to answer the door so that she could give him a good whack.

She raised her hand to knock on the door, but something made her stop. She frowned and lowered her hand, wondering what it was.

After waiting for another moment, she heard someone begin to sing.

"_I don't wanna be adored  
><em>_Don't wanna be first in line  
><em>_I'd like to bring a little light  
><em>_To shine a light on your life  
><em>_To make you feel loved_

Harmony knew that the voice had to be Rory's. It was slightly deeper than she would have imagined, and very sweet—very full of emotion. She felt like it belonged to a different era; it wasn't often that she heard someone so young with such a voice.

_No, don't wanna be the only one you know  
><em>_I wanna be the place you call home  
><em>_I lay myself down  
><em>_To make it so, but you don't want to know  
><em>_I give much more  
><em>_Than I'd ever ask for_

After her initial analysis, Harmony suddenly felt like an intruder, listening to a song that she wasn't meant to hear. She wondered if she should just knock on the door and cause the song to pause so that she could get her keys and leave. She almost did it, but then the performer in her wouldn't let her, not having the heart to interrupt a performance.

_Will you see me in the end  
><em>_Or is it just a waste of time  
><em>_Trying to be your friend  
><em>_Just shine, shine, shine  
><em>_Shine a little light  
><em>_Shine a light on my life  
><em>_Warm me up again_

She caught herself listening carefully to each word, oddly feeling both conflicted and comforted by the song. She shook her head to snap herself out of it, and she decided to walk back to her car and stand there for a couple minutes until his song was over. Just as she was turning around, his next forceful word made her stop.

_Fool  
><em>_I wonder if you know yourself at all  
><em>_You know that it could be so simple_

And somehow, it felt like he was singing right to her, even though he couldn't see her… even though he didn't know she was there. She felt like answering him, saying, "Do you _really_ think that it could be that simple?"

_I lay myself down  
><em>_To make it so, but you don't want to know  
><em>_You take much more  
><em>_Than I'd ever ask for_

"No, I don't," she whispered defensively, but then she scolded herself for doing so. Frustrated, she resigned to stand there and simply listen to the rest of the song.

_Say a word or two to brighten my day  
><em>_Do you think that you could see your way  
><em>_To lay yourself down  
><em>_And make it so, but you don't want to know  
><em>_You take much more  
><em>_Than I'd ever ask for."_

The song ended, but Harmony just stood there on the porch, not moving.

She didn't know how to feel about the lyrics. They seemed to criticize rather bluntly, but there also was the redeeming quality of love behind the bluntness.

Rory's voice and the charm he gave the song did sway her toward viewing the lyrics positively, almost making her believe that he simply wanted to bring a little light to whoever the song was meant for.

The front door swung open, making Harmony jump a little.

There stood Rachel Berry, going from looking worried to looking relieved when she saw that Harmony was standing there. She gave a small, triumphant smile, as if she knew something that Harmony didn't.

Before Harmony could say anything, Rachel held out Harmony's keys to her. Harmony was surprised and confused, but she remained silent and let Rachel drop the keys into her hand.

It took Harmony a second to realize that something else had been placed in her hand—a small slip of paper. Without looking up, Harmony suspiciously unfolded the paper and examined it.

When she looked at Rachel for an explanation, Rachel said modestly, "It's the least I could do."

Not sure if she wanted further explanation, Harmony simply said, "Thank you."

"Good night, Harmony," Rachel said, already disappearing behind the door.

"Good night," Harmony returned, left with her last reason to be confused for the night.

As she made her way to her car, she looked at the slip again.

The first line said "Rachel Berry" with a little gold star next to it, and underneath was a phone number.

Below that, in the same handwriting, it said "Rory Flanagan" with another number listed.

Harmony sighed, tucking the slip of paper into her coat pocket and unlocking her car door.

Once she was on the road and sure that her car was functioning properly, she began to sing very quietly to herself.

"_Memory, all alone in the moonlight…  
><em>_When the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory too…  
><em>_Touch me, it's so easy to leave me  
><em>_All alone with the memory…"_

* * *

><p><strong>Happy New Year!<strong>

**-Skye**


	12. Like a Little Bear

**Sorry for the hiatus, guys. I've never been the most consistent updater. I actually stayed up until 4 in the morning and ended up skipping a class to write this. Lol. Ten points for everyone for waiting. (The Show Goes On—the story where everything's made up and the points don't matter.)**

* * *

><p>Harmony reached back into her Crunch 'n Munch box, stretching her fingers to get what was left at the bottom. She stared listlessly up at the ceiling and popped the caramel-covered popcorn bits into her mouth, slowly chewing them and wiping her fingers carelessly on her shorts.<p>

Shaking the box and hearing nothing, she frowned in defeat as she realized that she would have to go all the way downstairs if she wanted more snacks. Heaving a sigh, she looked down at her combat boots that were tangled up in her pink sheets. The feet inside the combat boots had barely done any walking in the past few days, let alone pirouetting or tap-dancing her way into an audience's heart.

The only thing she had to look forward to was the arrival of a package that was supposed to come any day. She was going to replace her current sheets with ones that were a little less pop princess and a lot more death metal goddess.

Rolling out of bed, she knocked her sheets, empty Crunch 'n Munch box, and cell phone to the floor. She took a seat on the edge of her mattress, not quite ready to make the trek downstairs, and picked her phone up off the floor. She was about to delete all of her unread texts again, but she accidentally hit the button that brought her to her contact list. Scrolling wearily through the long list, she realized that she had never actually contacted most of the people more than once, if that.

She paused briefly at Gavroche's name, almost feeling bad for skipping out on the NYADA mixer without notice the night that they were supposed to do a Phantom of the Opera number that they had rehearsed for weeks. She also wanted to know if he had gotten into NYADA, but she decided that he probably didn't if _she _of all people didn't, and that he probably wouldn't have gone to the mixer either.

Continuing on down the list, she stopped among the R's, feeling an unexpected weirdness in her stomach.

_Rachel, Raul, Reagan, Richard, Riley, Robert, Rory…_

Harmony stared blankly at the names at the top and bottom of her screen.

_Rachel Berry and Rory Flanagan._

For a moment, she considered simply touching one of their names and seeing what happened. Their numbers had been offered to her out of… friendship? Pity? She couldn't be sure. Would they even answer if she called? And if they did, what would she say?

She shook her head and shut the phone, knowing that she couldn't call either of them. They couldn't make her situation any better even if they wanted to, and she didn't particularly want them to know about it, either. No one could put the pieces of her shattered dreams together.

Tossing her phone back on the floor, she adjusted her taupe beanie and trudged out of her room, nearly tripping on her untied shoelaces.

Just as she reached the top of the stairs, the doorbell rang. She knew that it was her package, but she couldn't bring herself to move any faster just to answer the door. The doorbell rang again several times in a row before she even got halfway down the stairs.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" she yelled irritably, no longer caring how such yelling wasn't good for her vocal cords.

She made her way to the front door and threw it open aggressively so that the delivery person would know just how much she didn't appreciate their impatience.

There was a sudden standstill, with no one on either side of the threshold saying anything.

Rachel Berry was the first to break the silence.

Looking Harmony up and down, she said, "It's worse than I thought."

Rachel was particularly horrified by Harmony's black hoodie, which was covered in bones and chains and vengeful, smiling skulls that made her skin crawl.

"What are you doing here?" Harmony asked defensively.

Rachel frowned. "I'm here because I know what it's like to have a dream crushed. I didn't get into NYADA either, but shutting down isn't good for anyone."

Temporarily putting off getting a better explanation than that, Harmony asked, "Okay, so then why is _he _here?"

Rory appeared behind Rachel, arms full with a polka-dotted folder and a potted plant.

Rachel answered Harmony's question with a small smile, "He's here just because he wanted to tag along."

"You sure move fast," Rory said down to Rachel before looking at Harmony.

Harmony was immediately embarrassed at her appearance, but then she remembered that she wasn't supposed to care. She looked right into his eyes and put on her best not-caring face, hoping it would speed up the process of making the two of them go away.

"I like your hat," he complimented, eying the two pom-poms attached to the top of her beanie. "It makes you look like a little bear."

Harmony couldn't help but think that the boy was truly a goofball. Of all the things to notice about her rough, disheveled look, he pointed out that her hat made her look like a "little bear."

"Thank you…" she found herself saying uncertainly.

Harmony wasn't quite sure why she hadn't yet slammed the door in their faces and proceeded to crawl back into bed with a box of gluten-free brownies.

But then Rory smiled at her, and she knew that she couldn't do that.

She tentatively stepped aside, allowing space for the two to enter her house.

"You guys like brownies?"


	13. Mean

Harmony trudged back into the sitting room, carrying a box of her favorite French Meadow brownies and a jug of milk. She ripped the box open, dumping the pre-packaged brownies onto the coffee table.

She then slammed the jug of milk down and wryly said, "Enjoy."

Sitting side by side on a couch, Rachel and Rory surveyed Harmony's offerings curiously. After a moment, Rory reached for a brownie, but Rachel swatted his hand away.

"Not before a performance," Rachel whispered so that Harmony couldn't hear.

"Seriously, help yourselves," Harmony said with a raised eyebrow, lifting the jug with her index finger and dangling it in the air toward Rachel.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm vegan," Rachel declined.

"So you're one of those people who _chooses _a difficult diet," Harmony said with distaste as she set the rejected milk back down on the table.

When Rachel frowned but didn't reply, Harmony shrugged, unwrapped a brownie, and plopped unceremoniously into a recliner across from the two of them. She took a large bite of her brownie while looking at Rachel and Rory, daring them to call her dreadful appearance or lack of manners to attention.

Rachel opened her mouth to say something when Harmony interrupted through a mouthful of chocolate, "Excuse me while I get my La-Z-Girl on."

With that, she threw back the handle on the side of her chair, causing the foot rest to pop out loudly. She propped her feet up comfortably and then finished off her brownie.

"Why is there a plant on my coffee table?" she asked.

"It's a gift from Rory," Rachel answered immediately.

"If it's a gift from him, then why are you telling me about it?" Harmony asked, once again inadvertently using her skill at shutting people down.

"They're cape primroses. They're house plants that grow all year but are most popular in winter," Rory said, sounding as if he had memorized the facts from the tag in the pot. "They need to be watered regularly and need twelve hours of sunlight a day."

"That sounds like work. Usually when a guy gives a girl flowers, doesn't he give her a bouquet or something?" Harmony asked sarcastically, having received hundreds of cut flowers after her various performances over the years.

"Well, I thought this would be better because flowers last longer in soil," Rory said innocently.

"How thoughtful," Harmony said dryly, wondering how much she was actually buying his thoughtful act. "What's the occasion, exactly?"

Rachel, who couldn't stay silent for too long, announced, "We're the Cheer Up Harmony Committee, so, in case you can't tell by the name, we're here to cheer you up."

"Wow, a whole two-person committee," Harmony remarked with fake enthusiasm. "I should probably be grateful or something, huh?"

Rachel gritted her teeth, trying to remain patient. "Harmony-"

Harmony cut her off, "As flattered as I am by this vast, cheerful organization that you've scraped together for me, I don't need anyone to cheer me up, let alone two strangers."

Rachel and Rory's faces both fell at the label of 'strangers,' but Rachel sat up straighter, determined to do what she had come to do.

"Look, Harmony, I know that you're not okay," she said, all traces of her former cheeriness gone. "First of all, look at how you're dressed. That beanie is not the same shade of taupe as your shorts, and I know you're better at matching than that. And don't even get me started on those freakish skulls," she said, cringing as she looked at Harmony's sweatshirt.

"The skulls are the same shade of taupe as the beanie," Harmony muttered.

Ignoring the comment, Rachel continued, "Also, we googled you and found your personal website. We saw that you used to update it multiple times daily, but since the NYADA rejection, you haven't updated at all."

"You resorted to cyber-stalking me?" Harmony asked, turning on Rory.

Rory didn't seem to catch the negative connotation in her question. "Well, my friend Noah Puckerman taught me how to use the Google the other day, so I've been looking up all sorts of interesting things. I learned a lot about you Americans, like your fascination with taking cell phone photos of yourselves in mirrors and your love of cats doing silly things. After Puck told me I could look up people, you're the first person I searched for."

Harmony wasn't sure what to say to that.

Rachel took the opportunity to pick up the conversation. "We couldn't assume just from your inactivity online that you were down enough to need our combined cheerful forces, so I went ahead and called your principal to see if there were any indicators in your attendance record."

Harmony's eyes widened. "You did _what?_"

Rachel explained, "I posed as your mom, and Mr. Sokolowski told me everything: how you quit all of your extracurricular activities, how you started skipping school, how you called him a fat lard and then spray-painted 'lard' on his windshield…"

Rory smirked a little. Rachel whacked him.

She went on, "Mr. Sokolowski was devastated that the school's 'shining star' had fallen so fast. He was also really angry and was going to press charges against you for vandalism. Luckily, I'm a good mother, and I told him what was going on with you so that he agreed not to sue the pants off of you. You're welcome."

"Wow. You're worse than my real mom. At least she has the sense to _stay out of my business_," Harmony said hostilely.

Rory suddenly said, "Harmony, we came here to cheer you up, and you're just being really… mean."

He said it seriously, but he looked like he regretted it as soon as he did.

Harmony had been called a lot worse things than _mean_, but somehow, the fact that _he _said it made her want to go upstairs, bury herself in her pink sheets, and never come out.

* * *

><p><strong>By the way, Harmony has Celiac disease, which is why she can't eat gluten. I do my research to make sure her food is safe.<br>****Any Polyvore fans here? It's a website where you can design outfits, so a month or so ago I went crazy and made a bunch of Harmony outfits. There are links for the first two on my profile, though the links on my page haven't been working lately for some reason, so you'll have to copy and paste into your url bar. If you're interested.  
><strong>**Also, anyone familiar with the fanon's future kids theory? If so, you probably appreciate Mom!Rachel. Lol.  
><strong>**One more thing: SOIL. :D**

**-Skye**


	14. Narnia Never Dies

**In honor of my fantastic college spring break that's not even in spring, have a longer chapter! Huzzah!**

* * *

><p>"Well, if you think I'm so mean, why are you still here? Why did you come here in the first place?" Harmony asked, crossing her arms to indicate that she wanted a serious answer.<p>

"I know what it's like to be that shining star," Rachel said softly. "To have a talent that is so big that it becomes your identity, to have dreams so big that you get a headache just thinking about them, to have such big feelings all the time that you're terrified your heart might explode at any second…"

Rory looked a little concerned at Rachel's graphic description, while Harmony just pretended that she couldn't relate to any of those things.

Gaining momentum in her speech, Rachel continued, "A few years ago, I didn't have any friends outside of glee club, and even they weren't really my friends. I just saw them as competition and treated them like backup singers, and they saw me as a selfish, spotlight-hogging jerk. But then the glee club grew, and I slowly started learning about the people around me and how unique and wonderful they all are, for so many different reasons. I started caring about people other than myself for once, and it felt good. And when I let people learn about me, about who I really am underneath the drama, I started to make real friends. Now, I don't know where I'd be without them. I never would have imagined back at the beginning of sophomore year that I would end up having a room full of real friends that would do anything for me. It's okay to be incredibly talented and own it and want to share it with the world, but you don't have to do it alone. It's _so_ much harder to do it alone. The people who love me won't let me let go of my dreams. Even when the world pushes me down and I stop believing in myself, they're there to pick me up and believe in me until I can believe in myself again."

Harmony considered what Rachel was trying to say, going back and forth in her head between taking some of it seriously and not.

_She's saying that we're the same, _Harmony thought to herself. _She's assuming I have no real friends. Rude! She has no right to assume that… even if it's partially and/or completely true… She thinks that I could end up like her, with a bunch of real friends, if I tried caring about other people. Gah. I don't want to care about other people. That sounds like work. I do fine on my own. I've always done fine on my own. And what, is she offering to be my new best friend or something? I don't think so, Berry. We couldn't possibly be as alike as you seem to think. You _are_ right about me being incredibly talented, though…_

"Harmony?" Rory said with concern.

"Oh, sorry. I spaced out there," Harmony replied. "Rachel…"

Rachel perked up, hoping to get a positive response.

"…your argument is being taken into consideration," Harmony stated, throwing Rachel a bone instead of completely rejecting her little tirade.

"Um, thank you," Rachel said, obviously a bit disappointed and not sure how to interpret that response.

"So what about you, dear?" Harmony asked Rory, tacking on the term of endearment in a somewhat condescending way. "Why do you care?"

Rory, not sensing the condescension, answered, "Well, um, I just don't like to see people unhappy, you know? Well, I mean, that's not the only reason. Your voice… I really like your voice. I guess it's selfish of me, but I'd really like to hear you sing again. When I saw you singing, it's like you went to a completely different world, but you took everyone with you. And it would be a shame for the world if you just stopped singing completely," he finished shyly, his cheeks turning the same shade of pink as the primroses that he was staring at so intently.

"I'm sorry, Rory, but my performing world died like Narnia," Harmony said, even though she didn't think he would get the reference. "I admit, even though I've only been listening to heavy metal lately and have been honing my screamo skills, I won't be able to help the occasional show tune while I'm on a long drive or the occasional tap number while I'm preparing breakfast. However, I've sworn to never perform on a stage again. It's not who I am anymore, and I'm not going to fight that."

"Narnia never dies," Rory responded fiercely.

"Wow, I didn't mean to offend you there, Mr. Tumnus," Harmony raising her hands in surrender.

"I take that as a compliment," Rory said. "And just like Narnia never dies, the performer in you will never die. The world you go to will always be in your heart, even if you try to forget it."

"Rory's right, Harmony. Right about you, as well as right about Narnia," Rachel added thoughtfully. "Look, after I got my letter from NYADA, I tried being depressed for a couple of days too, but that just didn't work for me. I know who I am and what I'm meant to do, even if the admissions panel at NYADA doesn't. Moping around for a couple of days without singing or dancing or being surrounded by my glee friends was just awful. While I was feeling sorry for myself, I was missing so much. And right now, Harmony, you're missing a beautiful day."

"A beautiful day? It's overcast with a seventy percent chance of precipitation," Harmony retorted.

Before Rachel could voice her frustration, her phone went off loudly. Harmony immediately recognized Idina Menzel's voice as Rachel leapt off the couch, excusing herself and apologizing.

"_I'm through accepting limits  
>'Cause someone says they're so<br>Some things I cannot change  
>But till I try, I'll never know!<br>Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost  
>Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost!<br>I'd sooner buy defying gravity  
>Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity<br>And you can't-"_

Walking toward the front door, Rachel finally cut off her Wicked ringtone by answering the call.

"Hello? Finn? No, we're not done yet! I was just making a fantastic segue into our number, and you interrupted-"

That was the last Rory and Harmony heard of the conversation as Rachel stepped outside and shut the door behind her.

"Did she say number?" Harmony asked.

"Um, no?" Rory answered, obviously lying.

"Come here," Harmony suddenly commanded.

Rory rose from his seat and made his way over to her. He stood awkwardly beside her for a moment, not knowing what she wanted.

"Kneel down here," she told him.

"May I ask why?" he asked, but he was already getting onto his knees beside the chair.

Harmony crossed her legs Indian style and scooted forward to examine Rory's face. Rory tried not to blush as she brushed his black eye with her fingertips.

"It's getting better, huh?" Harmony asked.

"Yes," he answered. "I've been singing a lot every day to make it heal fast."

Harmony didn't venture to ask what that had to do with anything.

Still staring at his eye, she added, "I wanted to be a doctor when I was little. A singing doctor. But at some point, I decided to just go with the singing part."

"I would go and get the hockey guys to blacken my other eye if you were going to be my singing doctor," Rory joked.

"That wouldn't be necessary. I'd be happy to blacken that eye for you," Harmony half-joked back, balling her hand into a fist. "Hey… what happened to them? The hockey guys, I mean. Did you get your phone and wallet back?"

"Yes. I went to see Principal Figgins the next day, but he didn't understand anything I was saying, so I went back later with Blaine, who I made promise to not get too worked up. Blaine explained what happened, and then Mr. Figgins called the entire hockey team to his office. None of them would admit to anything at first, but when Mr. Figgins threatened to shut the hockey program down, they spilled the beans, if you will, and gave up the guys who messed with me. They were forced to apologize and give me my things back, and then Mr. Figgins suspended them for a week."

"Wow. That's… good," Harmony decided. "I'm surprised that you didn't have to restrain Blaine from jumping up and trying to take down the whole team right there in the principal's office. He's very passionate. Inappropriately so, at times."

Rory told her, "Blaine was disappointed when he found out that you had left Finn Hudson and Kurt's house so suddenly. I think-"

Rory was cut off by a crack of thunder that made them both jump, followed by the sound of a sudden downpour.

"Rachel," they both said, and on cue, Rachel barreled back in through the front door.

Despite the fact that she was sopping wet, she attempted to keep her composure.

Harmony wordlessly pointed in the direction of the bathroom so that Rachel could go dry off.

Moving a few dripping strands of her hair out of her face, Rachel proclaimed defensively, "It's still a beautiful day, you know."

Then she stomped off toward the bathroom, and Harmony burst into a fit of laughter.

"I can hear you!" Rachel called from down the hall.

Rory grinned when that didn't stop Harmony from laughing.

* * *

><p><strong>I have no idea why I make so many references. Ready? Two points each for: recognizing Don't Stop Believin' in Rachel's speech, recognizing On My Own in Harmony's little thought spiel &amp; the accompanying irony of On My Own since that's Rachel's song &amp; Harmony is denying being like Rachel, knowing who Mr. Tumnus is, understanding the deathnon-death of Narnia, remembering that Rachel said in canon that Defying Gravity is her ringtone, and appreciating the irony of Idina Menzel. Plus ten points if you can guess what song Rachel was attempting to segue into. **

**-Skye**


	15. Hopeless Case

**Thank you to 2skool4kool for reviewing the last chapter!  
>Just so you know, I'll be updating this again tomorrow, because on Wednesday, I'm going out of the country for a little over a month! When I get back, I'll begin updating again regularly. :)<strong>

* * *

><p>Rachel was sitting beside Rory on the couch, shivering inside the towel that was draped around her when Harmony returned from upstairs with something for Rachel to wear.<p>

"Here," she said, handing Rachel a dress and a plastic bag. "You can put your wet clothes in the bag."

Rachel unfolded the dark pink dress, lifting it up in front of herself to get a good look at it. It was a knee-length sundress, with a bow hanging just below the bust.

"It's quite nice," Rory commented.

"Yes, it is," Rachel agreed, wondering if it was a coincidence that Harmony seemed to share Rachel's liking of clothing with bows.

"It should fit you," Harmony said. "It's probably a bit cold outside for it, but I'm assuming you'll survive the walk between my door and your car. Plus, I'm sure Mr. Charm will lend you his jacket."

"Of course!" Rory said, already shedding his jacket and placing it on the arm of the couch for Rachel to pick up later.

"Thanks, Rory," Rachel said with a small smile. "And thank you, Harmony. Don't worry, I'll get my dads to wash it when I get home. They get a kick out of doing the laundry together. I'll get this back to you as soon as I can."

"Oh, no, you keep it," Harmony said. Before Rachel could protest, Harmony added, "No, it's fine, really. My clothing budget is virtually unlimited. Plus, pink with bows isn't really my taste anymore."

Those things were true, but Harmony didn't say out loud that she didn't want Rachel to have to return the dress because Harmony didn't plan on having to see either of them again, no matter how intent they were on "cheering her up."

"Well, thank you again, then. I'll just go put this on," Rachel said as she stood up, not having anticipated the kindness.

As she started walking away, the flats she was wearing started making embarrassing squishing noises.

"I'll get you some shoes too," Harmony said decidedly, making her way past Rachel to go back up the stairs.

"No, I couldn't!" Rachel called to the rapidly disappearing Harmony, not wanting to have to take any more of the kindness.

Harmony came back down a few steps, gave Rachel an unyielding look, and said sternly, "You _will_."

"Oh, okay," Rachel said defeatedly.

Rory watched the two girls disappear in different directions. He smiled and folded his hands in his lap. He didn't understand girls, but he surely did enjoy them.

Rachel got changed in record time and rushed back to Rory, only to find him scarfing down one of Harmony's brownies.

"Rory!" she reprimanded, striding over to him and snatching the remains of the brownie out of his hand. "I told you, not before a performance!"

"We're still doing that?" he asked, looking sullenly at the chocolaty goodness that had been taken from him.

"Yes, we're still doing that! It's still a beautiful day, and Harmony still needs to be cheered up! Now get off the couch!" Rachel commanded, trying to salvage her earlier plans.

She pulled a CD out of her polka-dot folder and handed it to Rory, pushing him toward a boom box in the corner of the room.

"Hurry, before she gets back! We'll have to improv the choreography, but I think we can still pull this off. Try not to dance into the coffee table or anything else, Rory, okay?" Rachel rambled while simultaneously getting into character.

Harmony began to make her way back down the stairs with a pair of sandals in hand when she heard a bunch of scuffling about and then Rachel whispering loudly, "Press play! Press play!"

Harmony came to a halt on the next to last step as a familiar U2 song began to play and as Rory danced toward her, smiling and carrying the pot of primroses.

Rory got up onto the last step and opened his mouth to sing, causing Harmony to drop the shoes she was holding.

"_The heart is a bloom  
>Shoots up through the stony ground <em>

Rory shoved the flowers into her now-free hands.

"I see what you did there," she said dully.

_There's no room__  
><em>_No space to rent in this town_

"What are you doing? Please stop," Harmony requested, setting the plant down on the stairs.

Now that her hands were free again, Rory took her hand and dragged her back into the sitting room.

_You're out of luck__  
><em>_And the reason that you had to care__  
><em>_The traffic is stuck__  
><em>_And you're not moving anywhere_

Rory let go of Harmony and danced over to Rachel, nearly running into the coffee table.

"What is this, a duet? How charming," Harmony said, wanting to ignore their performance but finding it a little difficult.

_You thought you'd found a friend__  
><em>_To take you out of this place__  
><em>_Someone you could lend a hand__  
><em>_In return for grace_

"Well, time to get my La-Z-Girl back on," Harmony resolved, plopping back into her recliner.

Not giving up, Rachel and Rory began to sing the chorus together.

_It's a beautiful day  
>Sky falls, you feel like<br>It's a beautiful day  
>Don't let it get away <em>

"That last A was flat, Rory," Harmony remarked.

It was Rachel's turn to take the verse, and she wasn't going to let Harmony ignore her or the message they were trying to get across.

She hopped up and sat on the arm of Harmony's recliner, earning a disapproving look.

_You're on the road  
>But you've got no destination<br>You're in the mud  
>In the maze of her imagination <em>

Rachel poked Harmony's head on the last lyric and then hopped back off the arm of the chair.

"Hey, don't touch my imagination," Harmony grumbled.

_You love this town__  
><em>_Even if that doesn't ring true__  
><em>_You've been all over__  
><em>_And it's been all over you_

"Could one of you two toss me another brownie?" Harmony asked, not responding to the conviction Rachel was conveying.

Rachel and Rory began to sing together again, joining hands and subsequently not tossing Harmony another brownie.

_It's a beautiful day  
>Don't let it get away<br>It's a beautiful day _

Seeing that Harmony still wasn't responding, Rachel pushed Rory toward Harmony.

Rory scooped Harmony up off the recliner and began to spin her around as he sang.

_Touch me  
>Take me to that other place <em>

"Put me down!" Harmony cried, feeling like she was going to tumble right out of his arms. "You're not supposed to pick up the audience! Put the audience down!"

_Reach me__  
><em>_I know I'm not a hopeless case__  
><em>

"Your dancing might be a hopeless case," Harmony said as he set her down on wobbly legs.

Rachel sang the next line, catching Harmony in a dance hold as she tried to escape and then twirling her around once.

_What you don't have you don't need it now _

Rory sang the next line as he closed in on Harmony.

_What you don't know you can feel it somehow _

Rachel and Rory finished the song together, dancing in circles around Harmony.

_What you don't have you don't need it now  
>Don't need it now<br>Was a beautiful day…"_

As the music from the boom box was wrapping up, Rachel danced gracefully with moves reminiscent of her ballet background. Rory danced in awkward, jerky movements, making goofy faces that Harmony just had to laugh at.

Rory's final dance move had Harmony almost snorting, especially when he almost fell down. He grabbed hold of Harmony so that he wouldn't crash to the floor, and somehow it turned into him hugging her while they both laughed.

Rachel took a step back and surveyed the two of them, her heart swelling with performance adrenaline and a feeling of accomplishment.

"You done good, Berry," she whispered, giving herself silent applause.

* * *

><p><strong>It's a beautiful day, my dears.<br>Review if you could? **

**-Skye**


	16. Overextend Our Stay

"Harmony?" Rory said as he leaned the side of his head against her hair.

"Yes?" she asked, wondering how she had even gotten into his arms.

He said softly, "If your life is performing, then live it."

Harmony sighed and pulled back to look at him. "Rory, I just… can't. Not anymore."

"But you've been acting since you were a fetus!" Rory recited in a high-pitched voice. "You learned to sing before you learned to _breathe!"_

Harmony rolled her eyes a little and scoffed, "I do _not_ sound like that, Rory Flanagan."

"You're right. You sound a whole lot more dramatic," he said with a chuckle.

"Look, NYADA decided my fate, and I'm just going to have to deal with that. Performing isn't what I do anymore, okay? Maybe that's who I was, but it's not who I am now," Harmony said, sounding as if she had rehearsed the lines.

"Well, I don't believe that for a second," Rachel said from the couch, drawing attention to the fact that she was still in the room.

Rory pulled Harmony to the couch and sat her down between him and Rachel.

Harmony watched half-curiously as Rachel began pulling stacks of stapled papers out of her polka-dot folder.

"These are applications, Harmony, for musical theatre programs across the country. Now, you missed the early application deadline for most schools, but you can still meet the normal application deadline for these. Your hope for the future doesn't have to stop with the NYADA rejection."

Harmony still couldn't help but wince at the words "NYADA rejection."

Rachel, noticing the wince, continued, "Now, we're both ready and willing to help you fill out as many of these as you so desire. We're also ready and willing to hash out a killer letter of reference if need be."

"A letter of reference?" Harmony asked. "You two don't even know me well enough to write a letter of reference."

"Well, we could get to know you," Rory offered.

"Exactly!" Rachel chirped. "Actually, you could come over to the Hummel-Hudson household tomorrow afternoon! Every day after school Kurt and I, often joined by Blaine, hold musical intervention time for Finn and Rory…"

"Intervention?" Harmony questioned.

"Before you sang Memory for him, Rory had never even heard of Cats," Rachel explained. "Neither had Finn."

"Oh," Harmony said shortly.

Although she was successfully suppressing her horror, she clearly understood the need for the boys to have such intervention time.

"Well, that's nice for the two of them, but I'm not into musicals anymore," she tried.

"Liar!" Rachel called out immediately. "_No one _can stop loving musicals. Come on, Harmony. Please just come over. We can have some fun first watching a musical together, and then we can get down to work on those applications and that reference letter, okay? I'll even let you pick the musical."

"I don't want to pick the musical," Harmony said, crossing her arms.

"Okay, I'll pick for you! Let's do a classic, something everyone loves. How about… Cinderella?" Rachel suggested, suppressing a grin.

Harmony, unable to resist, found herself asking, "Which version?"

"There's more than one?" Rory asked, scratching his head.

"Rory," Rachel said, an exasperated smile on her face. "Could you kindly go and get Harmony's flowers off of the stairs and water them?"

"I kindly could," he said happily, forgetting about his question as he got up to comply with Rachel's wishes.

Both girls sighed and shook their heads as they watched him walk away.

"See, Harmony? He needs you," Rachel said.

Harmony's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"Well, when holding a musical intervention, it's best to have as many musical experts around as possible, right?" Rachel explained logically. "Plus, I think he's learned to drown me out when I'm explaining everything while we're watching, but if you were there, he would hang on every word you said."

"Oh," Harmony said again, not sure how to interpret that. After a moment of silence, she decided to go down a different excuse path. "Well, we both know that Kurt doesn't like me, and it's his house, so-"

"He doesn't like you _yet,_" Rachel interrupted. "He didn't like me at first either, and now he's one of my best friends. Plus, he does admire your talent and your fashion sense."

"Really?" Harmony scoffed as she sunk into the couch, ready to tune Rachel out.

"Harmony, just… please don't dismiss Kurt," Rachel said, closing her eyes. "He knows what it's like too."

Harmony asked with a grave expression on her face, "To have a dream die?"

Rachel shook her head. "To have a dream redirected."

"Your plant has been watered, Miss Harmony, and placed in the kitchen window to await the shining light of day," Rory announced, returning to his place on the couch beside Harmony.

Harmony gave an exaggerated sigh and then said resignedly, "Fine, I'll come over tomorrow."

"That's great!" Rory exclaimed.

"But that's all I'm promising, that I'm coming over and watching Cinderella," Harmony clarified. "I'll have to think about the applications."

"That's good enough for me," Rachel declared with a smile, standing up and beginning to gather her things. "Let's go, Rory, before we overextend our stay."

"You were never actually invited in the first place," Harmony pointed out.

While Rory helped Rachel put his jacket on, Harmony returned to the stairs and picked up the sandals she had dropped. They matched perfectly with the dress, adorned with dark pink bows. She then went to the closet and picked out an umbrella that was the same shade of pink. She couldn't help herself.

As Rachel approached the door, Harmony threw the sandals down on the floor in front of her so that Rachel could quickly slip them on and get out.

Before Rachel could say thank you again, Harmony pushed the umbrella toward her.

"Keep it."

"No, you've already given me too much-"

Harmony turned away from Rachel. "Rory, take this."

Rory obligingly took the proffered umbrella, despite Rachel's protests.

"Thank you, Miss Harmony," Rory said happily as Harmony pushed the pair out of her house.

"Goodbye," Harmony said simply, shutting the door between them.

Leaning against the door tiredly, Harmony was left with her own thoughts, which were loud enough to drown out the sounds of the storm.

* * *

><p><strong>To see Rachel's outfit and other outfits from this story, go to the bottom of my profile and copy &amp; paste the link in your url bar. This Polyvore collection will continue to be updated as this story continues. <strong>

**-Skye**


	17. Really

**I'm back! If you haven't read the full version of the last chapter yet, please go back and do so. :)**

* * *

><p>Rachel removed the disc from the DVD player and carefully slipped the treasured possession back into its case.<p>

Turning around with a content smile, she asked, "So what did you guys think?"

Finn was the first to answer as he turned the lights in the living room back on.

"It was pretty good, I guess, especially since it was recorded live or whatever, but every time I watch a black and white movie, I start dreaming in black and white. It kind of freaks me out."

"_Pretty_ good, you _guess_?" Harmony asked pointedly.

Opting not to reply to Finn's response for fear of going off on a tirade that would frighten her guests, Rachel hastily said, "Rory! What did you think?"

He asked, "What did you say the name of the girl playing Cinderella was?"

"Julie Andrews," Harmony and Rachel replied simultaneously.

"Yes, her," Rory said with a smile. "Well, Miss Andrews… she's just wonderful. Her voice is so sweet and lovely, and seeing her sing her songs and dance around the screen just kind of makes me happy, you know?"

Harmony sighed from beside him, "Yeah, I know."

Rory continued, "They were all just… talented. It wasn't too complicated. I like that."

"You would," Harmony said under her breath.

Rachel nodded enthusiastically in agreement with Rory. "I'm glad you like Julie Andrews, Rory, because you're going to be seeing more of her. Cinderella is just the beginning."

"Does Kurt like Cinderella, Rachel?" Harmony asked.

Rachel was caught off guard by the question. "Yes, he does… This is his favorite version. He adores Julie Andrews as much as I do."

"Really?" Harmony asked. "Then the reason he is mysteriously absent from this intervention must be because I'm here, right?"

"Awkward," Finn said, still standing beside the light switch.

"Not helpful!" Rachel snapped at him. "Harmony, Kurt and Blaine went to the library to work on homework today."

"Do they usually do homework together?"

"Well, not really," Rachel said slowly. "The only thing they have together in school is glee club…"

"And they're probably not working on glee assignments in the library, are they?" Harmony asked, backing Rachel into a corner.

"They could be doing research? Our assignment this week is Broadway classics," Rachel tried.

"Like either of them would need to research that," Harmony said. "Has Kurt ever missed intervention time before today?"

When Rachel hesitated to answer, Rory supplied helpfully, "No, he's been here every time. So have the rest of us, except Blaine. He was absent a few times when there were sales on his favorite hair care products at various stores."

"Okay! He's not here because of you!" Rachel reluctantly admitted. "I told him last night that you were coming, and then he insisted on going to the library and taking Blaine with him. I begged him to be here with us, but he wouldn't listen. I don't know what's up with him, but I'm really sorry. He's being really ridiculous and petty! I didn't want to offend you because I just really really wanted you to feel comfortable here and with us. I really don't want you to think badly of him, but he's really not helping the matter…"

"Really?" Harmony said, making fun of how many times Rachel had just used the word.

"But!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed. "…he did make you something last night! See? He's not all bad."

She scrambled past Finn and toward the kitchen, and Finn just shrugged and reoccupied his sofa.

Seconds later, Rachel came back in the living room holding a bread pan.

"See? It's gluten-free Irish soda bread! The Irish part is for Rory, and the gluten-free part is for you, Harmony!"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Harmony said, shaking her head. "I don't feel comfortable eating other people's recipes. It's not worth the risk."

"No, it's okay, really! Kurt has a little cousin who has Celiac too, and she drops by sometimes, so he always has ingredients for her favorite gluten-free recipes on hand. He's really careful about cross-contamination too, because he would never forgive himself if he hurt Amanda," Rachel said.

"I'm pretty sure he'd forgive himself if he hurt me," Harmony retorted.

"I promise it's okay," Rachel said earnestly.

"And it tastes pretty decent," Finn added. "You see that little part that's missing? That was me."

"Finn!" Rachel scolded.

"What?" Finn asked innocently. "I was hungry, and I already finished off the rest of Kurt's obsessive baking for breakfast."

Rachel angrily turned her back to him and said to Harmony and Rory, "I'll just go cut a piece for both of you, okay?"

"Thank you!" Rory called to her as she disappeared into the next room.

"Does she always treat you like that?" Harmony asked Finn.

"Yeah, but I've gotten used to it," Finn said with a shrug. "Sometimes I do dumb things, and sometimes she does mean things, but I love her and she loves me, so it works."

"That's… sweet," Harmony decided. "Maybe not healthy or realistic, but sweet."

"Thank you," Finn replied with a smile.

"Did she tell Kurt to make the bread?" Harmony asked, already knowing the answer.

"She hid his phone from him last night so that he couldn't text Blaine, and she wouldn't give it back until he made you something. She figured it could be like a peace offering or whatever," Finn said, not realizing that Rachel probably wouldn't want him telling Harmony that.

"Trying to force peace? That always works out well," Harmony said sarcastically.

"Kurt is really a nice fellow," Rory said. "I'm sure you two will be good friends in time."

"There you go with the unworldly optimism again," Harmony said, shaking her head and making her earrings dangle.

Rory leaned in to get a better look at one of the earrings.

"Harmony? Is that what I think it is?"

The earring consisted of a silver heart, but it was black and red in the middle, making it appear that the heart had been torn open. Three silver chains dangled from the heart, each with a red jewel on the end.

"Bleeding hearts," Harmony explained. "They're artistic and symbolic of my current state."

"Oh," Rory said with a frown, realizing that the Cheer Up Harmony Committee still had a lot of work to do.


	18. The Show Goes On

When Harmony returned from the bathroom, she was met with an unexpected sight.

There were stapled piles of paper everywhere, arranged in neat rows, starting on the coffee table and taking up a good portion of the floor. Rachel was still laying more of them out as Finn and Rory watched her.

Finn was safe where he was on the couch, but he had left a man behind. Rory was seated Indian style in front of the coffee table, unfortunately surrounded by papers with no escape.

Laying down the last stapled bundle, Rachel looked around at her work and smiled.

"Oh, Harmony, you're back!" she exclaimed at seeing the bewildered Harmony in the doorway. "I've laid out your applications so that they're easier to peruse. I know it looks like a lot, but it's really not all that much. We don't even have to do all of them, of course; we could leave out one or two if you'd like."

"Only one or two?" Rory asked, picking up one of the stacks and flipping it over to see how thick it was.

"Rory! Put that down!" Rachel shrieked. "If you wrinkle that, the admissions board will think Harmony is an irresponsible slob, and she'll never get in!"

"Wow," Harmony said dryly as Rory hurriedly returned the application to its spot on the floor.

"Sorry," he said, folding his hands in his lap.

"Well, I'll get started on that letter of reference. Harmony, you start looking at these applications," Rachel instructed. "Your future is somewhere in these papers, so let's get to it!"

Harmony didn't move. She stood in place, her eyes combing the piles of paper that supposedly held her future.

"Harmony?" Rory said uncertainly.

"I'll be right back," Harmony said, not looking at any of them. "I'm just going to step outside for a minute."

With that, she spun on her heel and went out the front door, shutting it a little too hard behind her.

Rory stood to go after her, but he stopped short, not sure how to get to the door. In a moment of decision, he did a little leap, completely annihilating one application with his foot before rushing out the door, partially toward Harmony and partially away from Rachel.

"Rory!" Rachel yelled angrily.

"He only stepped on one, and you kind of boxed him in," Finn pointed out, picking up the application. "And look, it's for Mars Hill College. I'm pretty sure Harmony wants to go to school on Earth."

"It's in North Carolina!" Rachel exclaimed.

"No," Finn said matter-of-factly while shaking his head, "Mars is in space, Rachel."

* * *

><p>Harmony had already set off down the street when Rory went out the front door. The sun had just set, and it was steadily getting darker. He walked behind her at a distance to see what she would do.<p>

Knowing he was behind her, she turned around and waited for him to catch up.

When he did, she looked up at him and said, "I just can't."

Rory frowned and said, "You mean the applications?"

Harmony nodded, biting the inside of her cheek.

Rory tried to comfort her, "Well, you have plenty of choices. You don't have to do as many as Rachel wanted, though."

"No," Harmony insisted. "NYADA was my choice—my _one _choice. All my life, it's been NYADA or bust, and well, I got bust."

Slightly frustrated, Rory said, "You're obviously not meant to go to NYADA, so you're not. Not everyone on Broadway went to that school. I'm betting most of them didn't!"

Harmony shook her head and quietly said, "She did. My mom."

Rory realized that he had never seen or heard much about either of Harmony's parents. He could only remember one mention of Harmony's mother when she was telling off Rachel:

"_Wow. You're worse than my real mom. At least she has the sense to__stay out of my business."_

Rory asked gently, "Your mom?"

Looking toward the ground, Harmony said, "She's… a performer. She lives in New York."

"Why don't you live with her?" Rory asked.

"My dad won custody."

Not pushing her any further with questions, Rory took one of her hands and said, "Harmony, I'm sorry."

"No, I was better off with my dad," Harmony said with a shrug. "My mother always put me second to herself, anyways. But I don't want to talk about that right now."

She gave Rory a sad little smile and then let go of his hand. She sighed and then turned to continue walking.

Rory watched her walking away, and then an idea came to him.

He asked, "Do you want to sing about it?"

Harmony stopped walking, and without turning around, she said, "Kind of."

She took a second to collect herself, and then she quickly began to sing, releasing what was pent up inside of her.

_Now again I've found myself__  
><em>_So far down, away from the sun__  
><em>_That shines into the darkest place__  
><em>_I'm so far down, away from the sun again_

While she was singing, the streetlights came on, bringing another idea to Rory. In the pause Harmony took after her first verse, he sung a couple of lines from a different song.

_Let me light up the sky__  
><em>_Light it up for you_

Harmony tried to ignore his interruption, starting to walk again and continuing her song.

_I'm over this__  
><em>_I'm tired of living in the dark__  
><em>_Can anyone see me down here__  
><em>_The feeling's gone__  
><em>_There's nothing left to lift me up__  
><em>_Back into the world I know_

Harmony almost jumped when Rory cut in again, not having realized that he had caught up to her and was rather close behind.

_Let me light up the sky__  
><em>_Just for you tonight__  
><em>_Let me help you fly__  
><em>_Cause you won't have time__  
><em>_To cover your eyes__  
><em>_Get your disguise__  
><em>_They won't ask you why__  
><em>_They just watch you die_

Rory grabbed one of her hands again and walked beside her. When she started to sing again, she came in much stronger, her voice seeming to fill up the whole neighborhood._  
><em>

_And now again I've found myself__  
><em>_So far down, away from the sun__  
><em>_That shines into the darkest place__  
><em>_I'm so far down, away from the sun__  
><em>_That shines to light the way for me__  
><em>_To find my way back into the arms__  
><em>_That care about the ones like me__  
><em>_I'm so far down, away from the sun again_

Rory tried to match her intensity, but instead of looking forward as they walked, he looked at Harmony, who couldn't ignore him as she vaguely wondered what he was doing inside her performing world.

_And it's still so hard to be who you are__  
><em>_So you play this part__  
><em>_And the show goes on__  
><em>_But you've come this far with a broken heart__  
><em>_Yeah you've come this far__  
><em>_And you're broken_

Tears were building up in Harmony's eyes as Rory stopped them both, facing her and taking her other hand. He continued to sing, gradually decreasing his volume.

_Let me light up the sky__  
><em>_Light it up for you__  
><em>_Let me tell you why__  
><em>_I would die for you_

Harmony looked up into his eyes, almost wanting to shake her head in response to the words he was singing. He was definitely confusing her while making her heart constrict at the same time.

She finally sang while looking at him, taking a verse from his song. _  
><em>

_I can't find a wall to pin this to__  
><em>_They're all coming down since I've found you__  
><em>_I just wanna be where you are tonight__  
><em>_I run in the dark looking for some light__  
><em>_And how will we know if we just don't try__  
><em>_We won't ever know_

Rory followed suit and took a few lines from Harmony's song while looking at her hands in his._  
><em>

_It's down to this__  
><em>_I've got to make this life make sense__  
><em>_And now I can't tell what I've done_

Smiling and squeezing his hands, she brought his eyes back to hers as she sang a line to him.

_Let me light up the sky_

Rory gave a little grin back and sang,

_Let me make this mine_

Together, they sang what Rory thought would be the last line…

_Let me light up the sky_

But Harmony, not one to be upstaged, sweetly sang the final line.

_'Cause now again I've found myself._

Harmony closed her eyes as Rory, caught up in the moment, kissed her on the forehead.

When he pulled away, she watched his cheeks become a bright red.

Harmony smirked and said, "You're too nice for your own good, Rory."

Pulling her back toward the house, he asked, "Am I too nice for _your_ own good?"

She observed how he stuck one nervous hand in his pocket and how the other hand that was still holding hers was starting to sweat.

"No, you're just nice enough," she said, watching their shadows move in the golden light from the streetlights.

* * *

><p><strong>So, it was really hard to write this chapter. I arranged the mash-up before I wrote the rest of it, and then I realized it would be hard to make it clear who's singing what from which song. But then I refused to change the arrangement of the mash-up, because I liked it so much. I'm sorry if it's either unclear or if the way I tried to make it clear is annoying. Lol. Harmony starts by singing Away From the Sun by 3 Doors Down, and then Rory sings Light Up the Sky by Yellowcard. (Has anyone seen the common theme between all the songs so far?) Toward the end, they each take parts from both songs. Mr. Schue made the glee club do mash-ups last week, so Rory was well-prepared to whip up a mash-up out of nowhere. Yep. <strong>

_**So you play this part**__**, **__**and the show goes on**__**…**_


	19. Friends

To Rachel's surprise, upon returning to the house, a suddenly enthusiastic Harmony decided to start getting things done and took command. The first application that served as a starter for the discard pile was for Mars Hill College, which prompted Finn to say an "I told you so" to Rachel, who subsequently banished him from his own living room. He apologized to Harmony before escaping to his bedroom, but he claimed that he would not have been much help anyways because he had terrible handwriting and didn't like to do too much reading at one time.

After that, Harmony proceeded to add about half of the remaining applications to the discard pile just after looking at the name of the school, much to Rachel's protest. While Rory took the pile of papers outside to the recycling bin, Harmony quickly skimmed the first few pages of the array of applications left. It wasn't long before Rory was taking another pile of rejected applications to the blue bin.

In between her bouts of protest, Rachel was on her pink laptop typing up a rough draft of her letter of recommendation. She was determined to make it gold star-worthy, especially since it was coming from her, a student of the same age who hadn't known Harmony for long. The admissions boards were going to take her letter seriously, or her name wasn't Rachel Barbra Berry.

Eventually, Harmony had narrowed down the schools to about seven, and she began filling out the basic information on the application for the first school she was sure she wanted to apply to. Rory sat beside her and copied that information onto another one of the applications simultaneously.

Working diligently, the three of them didn't hear Kurt slip in the front door. He was about to sneak to his room when Rachel said something that piqued his interest and left him standing just inside the door, listening to her.

"I've got a rough start to this letter of recommendation," she announced. "I want to read it to you guys, okay?"

"Fire away," Rory said as he and Harmony set their applications down.

Rachel took a deep breath and then read the letter like a monologue.

"The first time I saw Harmony perform, I cried. It was not because I was moved by her performance, but it was because I was both intimidated by her talent and jealous of it…"

Kurt shifted uncomfortably.

"…I realize this now in retrospect; Harmony's performance blew me away, in more ways than one. Harmony and I have a lot in common. We have both been on the road to musical theater since we can remember, and the dream of stardom is what has been shining in our eyes through the years, blinding us to those who doubted us and tried to diminish the importance of what we loved. When I first met Harmony, it was difficult to comprehend that someone who was so much like me existed, and it was even harder to comprehend that she might be someone who beat me out on both drive and talent. I have known Harmony only since the beginning of our senior year, but she has already made an irreversible effect on me. When she performs, people stop what they are doing and pay attention. She takes them in, and they fall in love…"

Rachel chanced a glance at Rory, which was not lost on Harmony.

"…whether or not they can admit it to themselves at first. Her talent is quite simply undeniable. I would venture to say that any musical theater program that did not accept Harmony would be missing out on something unimaginably special, but I think it is more accurate to say that any program that does not have her will regret it in years to come when she is inevitably the next big thing on Broadway."

Kurt let out a shaky sigh, wiping a stubborn tear from the corner of his eye.

Still staring at her computer screen, Rachel said, "That's what I have so far. I have to fix up the sentence structure and maybe change that last bit. What do you guys think?"

It wasn't until then that Rachel looked up and saw that Rory had a comforting hand on Harmony's arm. Harmony's eyes were full of tears, and she was currently engaged in a battle against letting them spill out.

Harmony smiled weakly and said, "It's pretty good, but I think you should add in the fact that we're friends now, just to clear up why exactly you're writing the letter for me."

"We're friends now?" Rachel asked with her infamous happy frown.

"I suppose so," Harmony laughed, using the back of her hand to wipe her face.

"I'm going to hug you _right _now," Rachel declared, nearly tossing her laptop aside and bolting over to Harmony.

She threw her arms around Harmony, who was surprised by the hug despite the warning. After a second, Harmony hugged Rachel back, still not believing in the moment that it was happening.

"Bring it in, Rory," Rachel said, after which Rory promptly and gratefully joined the hug.

"Did I really make you cry that night?" Harmony asked when they were still hugging.

Rachel laughed into Harmony's hair. "Kurt and I locked ourselves in my car and ugly sobbed."

"I purposely tried to make you both feel small, and I'm sorry," Harmony said quickly.

"Apology accepted," Rachel immediately replied. "But seriously, I can hold a note longer than you."

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I can," Rachel laughed.

Harmony laughed too. "I guess we'll have to test that theory out someday."

Once the hug had broken and the last of the tears had been wiped away, Harmony asked, "Can we finish this all tomorrow? It's getting late, and I have school in the morning."

"You're going back to school?" Rachel asked, already clapping in celebration.

Grabbing her purse and standing up, Harmony said, "If I miss any more days, I'll fail the semester, and I don't think any of these schools that I'm applying to would think too highly of that."

Rory stood too, grabbing her red beret, the same one she had worn the night she had met Kurt and Rachel, and placing it on top of her head.

"Thank you," she said softly, before turning to Rachel. "Thank you both. It turns out a whole two-person committee was more than enough for me."

"You're welcome," they said in unison.

As Harmony left the room, the two of them caught each other in a laughing, celebratory hug.

Kurt had cemented himself by the door, but he wasn't quite sure what would be appropriate to say when Harmony appeared before him.

"Did you hear all that?" she asked, her expression neutral.

"I did," he replied, though neither specified what they were referencing. After a quick deliberation with himself, he said, "Your outfit, although somewhat dismal in theme, is rather well-coordinated."

"Your soda bread was a lot better than I expected it to be," Harmony complimented back.

"Thank… you," Kurt said uncertainly.

"We're going to end up as friends, aren't we?" Harmony suddenly asked as his eyes set on her beret.

"Probably."

Harmony nodded. "Take your time," she said, giving his arm a small squeeze and then opening the door to leave.

"Good night," he said over his shoulder when she had crossed the threshold.

She looked back at him and said, "Good night, Kurt."

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><p><strong>This chapter is dedicated to pjato-lover. If not for your messages, I would probably not be updating this today.<strong>


	20. Free Time

**Last semester was really rough and busy in a lot of ways, so thanks for bearing with me through the lack of updates.**

**Just a reminder, this story takes place somewhere in the middle of season 3, and I started writing it between Harmony's first and second appearances on Glee and therefore took some liberties with her character since I had little information to go on at the time. I haven't started watching season 4, so this is completely unrelated to whatever is going on with that. **

**In Chapter 12, I briefly mentioned Pendleton, who I had confused with Gavroche. I have fixed that error and will be referring to Gavroche again in this chapter.**

* * *

><p>As soon as she entered the front double door of the building, she was faced with one of the two people she had wanted to avoid most: Principal Sokolowski.<p>

Their eyes met for only a second as Sokolowski was walking past, but then he did a double take and turned back around to make sure that it was indeed Harmony that he had seen.

When their eyes met a second time, Harmony immediately said, "I am _so _sorry. I was really-"

Sokolowski held up a hand and then said, "Say no more, Harmony. You are forgiven. While I was initially very disturbed by your delinquent behavior, the situation was explained to me thoroughly by your mother."

Successfully suppressing a grimace, Harmony said, "Right… Thank you so much for understanding. I promise that I'll never do anything like that again, and I'll pay you back for the damage to your car."

"Well, I already had your little paint job removed a while ago, and I don't feel comfortable taking money directly from a student, so let's figure out something else," Sokolowski said thoughtfully. "The several school-sponsored performing groups that you were in have moved on without you and probably won't take you back now after missing so many rehearsals…

Although Harmony had already assumed these things, she frowned at hearing it out loud.

"…so you should have a good amount of free time on your hands. Starting next week, you'll be staying after school for an hour each day to paint over the graffiti on the walls in all of the ladies' bathrooms."

"Yes, sir," Harmony replied, guilt written heavily on her face.

Sokolowski began to walk away, saying over his shoulder, "You know I had to punish you in some way just because I'm the principal and that's my job, but no matter what, you're still our school's shining star. Don't you forget that."

As he continued on his way without looking back, Harmony quietly said, "Thank you, sir."

Harmony looked at her feet and let out a breath. She felt the slightest prickle in the corners of her eyes, and then a smile came over her face as she felt the relief of being forgiven.

Then the moment was gone, and Harmony dutifully turned to go toward her homeroom.

She was almost to the classroom when a voice from behind her said, "You haven't graced the ballroom in quite some time, Giselle."

Of course, in the first five minutes of being back at school, she would run into both people that she had wanted to avoid. Of course _he_ would recognize that her outfit was a modern version of Giselle's curtain dress.

Harmony turned and looked at Gavroche, and in one shared glance, they both could confirm that the other had not gotten into NYADA.

They knew each other so well, but they still didn't know each other at all…

"Gavroche, I want us to be friends," Harmony blurted out.

Gavroche looked taken aback. "Aren't we already friends?" But even as he said it, he knew the answer was no.

Harmony shook her head. "We're competitors. Well, we _were _competitors."

"Pretty crappy competitors if we both couldn't get into NYADA," Gavroche remarked.

It still stung Harmony a bit to think that she hadn't gotten into NYADA, but Gavroche hadn't gotten in either, so there was no use trying to get sympathy from him.

"Yeah, I guess we _are_ pretty crappy competitors," Harmony said with a weak smile.

"So now that we're both losers, you want to be friends?" Gavroche asked, crossing his arms.

Harmony couldn't help but laugh at herself as she nodded and felt the prickle return to her eyes.

"Well… good, because I'd like that too," he finally said, his hard expression melting away. "Come here, beautiful. Get your sassy little hide into Gavroche's arms," he said, welcoming Harmony into his embrace. "Oh, you're so darn cute. It always made it so difficult to hate you."

"Gavroche!"

"Hey, friends have to be honest with each other, honey. I'm just getting the ball rolling," he said, hugging her a little more tightly.

"Thank you," Harmony said in a quavering voice.

"Whoa there, sweet child o' mine, no tears from the eyes of the bluest skies," he said, gently pushing her away. "If you cry on Gavroche's favorite herringbone shirt, he can't be friends with you."

"Shut up," she said, letting go of him and wiping at her eyes.

Nearby, a student was stapling something to the bulletin board, and Gavroche's eyes lit up as he read the heading on the neon sheet of paper.

"The time is drawing near once again for me to grace the school talent show with my annual rendition of Little People!" he proclaimed.

"Fourth time's a charm," Harmony said, shaking her head.

"Please, dear, _every_ time I sing my song on that stage is a charm," Gavroche insisted. "Now what will you be performing, Giselle? Something accompanied by small woodland creatures, I presume?"

"You know I never do the talent show, Gavroche."

"Well, that was before, when you had better things to do. But now, you're a senior who dropped out of all of her extracurricular activities! Free time! Yay!" he said, clapping enthusiastically.

"I'm really just… not ready to get back on the stage," Harmony said seriously.

"Are you kidding me? Look, you have plenty of time to prepare, and if I know you-"

Gavroche was cut off by the sound of the warning bell, signaling that they had one minute to get into their respective classrooms.

Harmony said as she moved toward her class, "I'll be there, Gavroche, to watch you. I promise. I'll talk to you later!"

Gavroche watched her disappear into her homeroom, and then he cursed at himself for getting a tear on his favorite herringbone shirt.


	21. I'll Cue You

At hearing the doorbell, Kurt slipped his oven mitts off and headed toward the front door. He stood before the door and took a deep breath, wondering if the phrase 'swallow your pride' drew its inspiration from the literal.

When he pulled the door open and saw her standing there, his heart involuntarily melted a little. He almost could have hugged Harmony and her cute little Giselle outfit that was no doubt worn in honor of the day's musical intervention selection: Enchanted.

Sighing inwardly at his crippling weakness for cute outfits and Disney princesses, he waved her in with an ushering hand and closed the door behind her.

Looking toward the empty living room, Harmony asked, "Where is everyone?"

"Rachel, Finn, and Rory are making a quick trip to the store," Kurt answered. "They'll be back soon."

"Oh," Harmony said, looking at him uncertainly.

"Blaine is in the kitchen with my little cousin, Amanda," Kurt added.

"The cousin with Celiac?" Harmony asked. "Rachel mentioned her. She made it sound like you really care about her."

"I do," Kurt replied, his expression softening.

"That's sweet," Harmony said, relaxing a little. "Is Amanda going to watch Enchanted with us?"

Kurt nodded. "I was talking to her on the phone last night, and I let it slip that we planned to watch Enchanted today. As soon as I let the name of that movie hit the air, that girl was up in arms, demanding to her mother that she be allowed to come here after school today. She's kind of obsessed."

Harmony smiled. "Well, I think I can forgive her for that."

Kurt's face fell, and he knew he couldn't put off the conversation they needed to have any longer.

"Can you forgive _me_?" he said suddenly, catching Harmony off guard. "Look, Harmony, the night I met you, you were being a jerk. You were better than me and made sure I knew it, and I just couldn't stand that."

Harmony opened her mouth to say something, but Kurt shook his head to stop her from speaking.

"Let me finish. When Rory first told us how you helped him out, I couldn't feel grateful toward you for helping him because I was still caught up in how insecure you had made me feel. When I saw how upset you were about not getting into NYADA, I couldn't feel bad for you, because I was still so wrapped up in my own hurt. And when I saw how happy Blaine was to see you, I got really overprotective because he's one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I felt like you had already taken my pride, and I didn't want you to take anything else from me."

"Oh, Kurt… I didn't mean to hurt you as much as I did," Harmony said genuinely. "And I have no intention of taking Blaine from you. Plus, judging by the way he acts, I couldn't take him from you even if I wanted to."

Kurt gave a tight-lipped smile and said, "I know that now."

Harmony looked around and then asked, "Should we hug now?"

"Not yet," Kurt said, shaking his head. "Don't worry, I'll cue you."

"Okay, good," Harmony replied, feeling a little bit better about the situation.

Kurt sighed and then admitted, "I made sure that Blaine went to the library with me last night, even though we didn't have anything to study together. I just didn't want him to be around you. He figured me out, though. He was really upset at first, and after a while I realized that he had the right to be. It took some time, but he set me straight. Maybe you weren't the nicest person the night I met you, but I can't hold that against you, because I don't want the things that I've done in the past to be held against me. I have no reason to fear losing Blaine, and I have no reason not to treat you decently, especially since you're an old friend of the person I love. And now, all I have to say is that I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Harmony said, nodding. "And I'm sorry too, for anything and everything I should be sorry for. Is that okay?"

Kurt breathed, "Yes, it's okay."

Harmony stepped toward him and gave him a hug, which he tentatively returned.

"I didn't give you the cue yet," he remarked half-heartedly.

"I thought that you getting all misty-eyed was the cue," Harmony answered as their hug broke apart.

"I was not getting all misty-eyed," Kurt said, contradicting himself by looking toward the ceiling and wiping at the corners of his eyes. "Now, if you don't mind, we need to make a scene change so that I can check on the array of apologetic and delicious gluten-free foods that I am preparing in the kitchen."

"Ah, apologetic and delicious gluten-free foods are definitely the way to my heart, Mr. Kurt Hummel."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Miss Harm Alarm," Kurt replied, immediately laughing at himself. "I'm sorry, that is such a tacky nickname."

"We were in middle school! Very few good things come out of middle school," Harmony said matter-of-factly. "Oh, we should come up with a horrible nickname for you!"

Kurt smiled and guided her toward the kitchen. "I think I could do without one of those, thank you."

Harmony began to brainstorm out loud anyways, "Kurtmit the Frog? Kurt the Flirt? Hummingbird Hummel? Humm-drum? HumMel Gibson? Wow, these are all gold…"


	22. Chicken Feet

"Isn't that right, Amanda?" Blaine asked, practically dancing in his chair as he stirred the contents of his bowl enthusiastically.

When Amanda didn't answer, he looked up from the task at hand only to see that she had swiftly lost interest in their conversation. Her mouth was open, and her round eyes were focused on the doorway of the kitchen.

"Well, hello there. You must be Amanda," said Harmony, the object of Amanda's intense stare.

"Harmony!" Blaine exclaimed, standing up and abandoning his bowl on the table.

Kurt kneeled beside Amanda's chair and said, "Amanda, this is Harmony, my _friend_."

Blaine looked suspiciously from Kurt to Harmony, but then a bright smile spread across his face.

Kurt tilted his head at Amanda, but she didn't respond and just kept staring at Harmony.

"Amanda," he tried again, "Harmony is going to watch Enchanted with us. She's the one I told you about who has Celiac just like you do."

Amanda broke out of her trance, frowning and looking at the ground.

"I don't like being Celiac," she said sadly.

Harmony's jaw tightened, and she swiftly kneeled in front of Amanda, looking up into her eyes.

Without further prompting, Amanda locked onto Harmony and explained, "I'm different than everyone else. I can't eat what everyone else eats, and if I make a mistake and eat something bad, I get sick. I'm weird."

As Harmony laid her hand on Amanda's arm, Kurt stood up, backing away a little to observe.

"Listen to me, Amanda," Harmony said, a serious expression on her face. "Having Celiac isn't all bad. Most people eat really unhealthily when they're young, and then they regret it when they're older. You're lucky, because you're already eating really well. You're going to grow up healthy and strong. You get to try and eat different types of food that no one else has heard of, and you can share all of the special stuff you know with other people."

Amanda looked interested but not quite convinced yet.

Harmony changed her strategy and continued at a lower volume as if she was sharing a really big secret, "Plus, most people don't really understand what gluten is. If you really don't want to eat something that looks gross, you can just tell people that you can't have it because it has gluten in it."

"Really?" Amanda asked, leaning forward in her seat.

Harmony smirked and nodded. "Yep! One time when I was about your age, the little old lady who lives next to me cooked us chicken feet…"

"Chicken feet? Ew!" Amanda interrupted, wrinkling her nose.

"Ew is right," Harmony agreed. "I really didn't want to eat those chicken feet, so I told her that they had gluten in them. And guess what?"

"What?" Amanda whispered, eyes round and questioning.

"I didn't have to eat the chicken feet!"

"No way!" Amanda exclaimed, forgetting to whisper.

"Yes way," Harmony countered. "And then my dad told her that he had Celiac too, even though he doesn't, and he didn't have to eat them either."

"Wow," Amanda breathed.

"So, do you still think having Celiac is so bad?" Harmony asked, putting her hands on her hips expectantly.

Amanda shook her head fervently.

"Good," Harmony said with a satisfied smile.

She patted Amanda's knee and began to stand up when Amanda blurted out, "Are you a princess?"

Harmony crossed her arms over her stomach and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Kurt warned, "Amanda…"

"No, sweetie, I'm not," Harmony finally answered with a weary smile.

Blaine stepped in and said, "Harmony, can I talk to you in the living room? I think Kurt and Amanda are going to finish up in here."

She hesitated, so he grabbed her hand and tugged at it gently.

"Yeah, of course," she said, letting him pull her out of the kitchen.

Once they were in the living room, he grabbed her other hand and exclaimed, "Kurt called you his friend! And you did so well with Amanda, which definitely just earned you some major points with Kurt. I'm so excited!"

Harmony couldn't help but smile at Blaine's giddiness. "Yeah, before Kurt and I came into the kitchen, we talked, and…" Harmony suddenly dropped Blaine's hands and asked in an accusing tone, "Did you force him to apologize to me?"

Not fazed, Blaine answered, "No, Kurt isn't really one to be _forced_ to do anything. I did _persuade _him to apologize, though."

"What's the difference?" Harmony asked, pursing her lips.

"Look, last night when Kurt insisted out of nowhere that we go to the library, I caught on that something was up. When I finally got him to admit that he was trying to keep you and me apart, I wasjust so… _furious_ with him. He should know better than that. I would never do anything to hurt him, and I don't deserve to be treated like someone who hasn't been completely faithful to him. I told him all about how you and I met and how we would never _ever _want to date each other—no offense."

"None taken," Harmony said, trying to process all that Blaine was saying.

"Plus," Blaine added, "Kurt knows that you're more interested in-"

"Rory!" Amanda yelled from the kitchen as Rory came through the front door carrying several brown paper grocery bags.

Blaine's eyebrow quirked at the coincidence, and when Harmony subsequently smacked him on the arm, he tried not to bust a gut laughing.

"Shut up, Blanderson," she said, leaving him behind to go and join the others in the kitchen.

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><p><strong>Disclaimers: In real life, I do not condone lying about gluten, nor do I condone teaching children to lie [about gluten]. Chicken feet might possibly be delicious. I wouldn't know. I haven't watched Glee in forever. (How was Season 5?) <strong>


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